Cruising into the Future: Riders of the Fleet
by StrangerDenB4
Summary: A century old Kaizorg warrior turned doctor, and a youth who have found his courage. Together, Kamen Riders X and Aqua work together alongside the Fleet Girls to combat the Abyssal Fleet. Little did they know that there is another enemy biding their time... A collab fic with Epsilon Zeta.
1. First Wave

**_First Wave_**

 _Maizuru Naval Base, April 3rd, 2051, 1200 Hour_

'I really wish I would get a break.' A disgruntled Michal Minato looked again at the notice on his personal electronic device. ( **Think the iDroid from MGSV** )

 **NOTICE TO MINATO MICHAL: AS OF 1030 HOURS TODAY, YOU ARE HEREBY ORDERED TO REPORT TO YOUR NEW POST AT THE MAIZARU NAVAL BASE WHERE YOU WILL SERVE AS AN ASSISTANT TO VICE ADMIRAL AOSAKI AS WELL AS CARRY OUT OPERATIONS WITH THE 7TH FLEET.**

The bottom of the notice even had an extra note from the President of the Kougami Foundation along with the verification that he had authorized the transfer of Michal to this new post.

 _I have the utmost confidence that you will perform splendidly in your new role!_

'Perform splendidly my butt…' He took a moment to set down his luggage while looking around and switching his device to GPS mode to verify that he was in the right location while people walked around him. 'It's no good. I can't tell where to go with all these warehouses and I'm running late as is! Just where is this naval base located? Where's the harbour around here? Those navy officers are probably going to hate me from day one for being late and wasting time.'

"Um… excuse me, sir?" He turned around to see a pretty girl with long dark hair that reached to her waist. Her eyes were blue and her attire consisted of a simple school uniform. "Might you be Minato Michal-san?"

"Yes, that's me. And you are?"

"Thank goodness! Forgive me for the late introduction…" She immediately saluted. "My name is Asashio and I belong to the Seventh Fleet of the Maizuru Naval Base. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

'… Wait, what? This girl is a member of the fleet?!' He really couldn't believe what he was seeing. She looked no older than a first year high school student.

"Minato-san?" Asashio looked concerned, snapping him back to reality and giving a hasty salute of his own.

"R-right! I'm pleased to meet you as well!"

She smiled before relaxing her stance. "The Vice Admiral had thought that you might be lost so she sent me to escort you back to base. I was glad to find you quickly! Do you need any help carrying your luggage?"

"No, I'm fine!" Michal reached for his suitcase again before following the girl. "How were you able to pick me out from the crowd?"

"It was because of your cool blue outfit and that hairstyle you have that made you stand out!" answered the young lady with a smile. A few moments later, they arrived in front of a building tucked away from a normal pedestrian's point of view.

"This is…" He paused for a moment and moved closer to some of the signage around the area just to verify that he was really in the right place.

"Yes, this is Maizuru Naval Base! The red bricks give this building a charm, right? Let's get you in-"

"Outta the way, Honour Student!"

"Uwaa?!" Asashio was cut off as someone bounced off her shoulder.

"Asashio-san?!" Michal looked up and his cheeks immediately turned red upon seeing a young girl in the air. She had long blonde hair with a hair ribbon tied like rabbit ears. Her attire was skimpy with a sleeveless sailor top that left room for her midriff to be exposed, elbow gloves, a very small denim skirt and a very visible thong. Her legs were covered by red and white stockings that reached up to her thighs. Accompanying her in the air were cartoonish gun turrets. 'What the…?'

"Shimakaze!"

The other girl simply landed on her feet before continuing on her way at her speedy pace. "It's your fault for being so slow!"

Michal returned back to Asashio. "Is she also a part of the seventh Fleet? How could she be allowed to wear that as her uniform?"

"That's…"

"You know what, hold that thought for now. I gotta get going to see the Vice Admiral." Now that he had a better handle on his surroundings, he could make his way to her office from here. "Thanks for everything!"

"You're welcome!"

* * *

"You have a lot of nerve, strolling in late to your new post."

Michal had expected this the moment he stepped into her office and immediately bowed in apology. "I'm terribly sorry for my tardiness!"

The woman behind the desk didn't change her expression. She had short dark hair, glasses and a standard white navy uniform on her. "I'm Vice Admiral Aosaki Sumire and the commanding officer of the Maizuru Naval Base. As far as your duties are concerned, punctuality is a vital factor. If a soldier is out of line, the entire platoon could be affected. Remember that."

"Yes, ma'am! I will be careful in the future!"

After seeing how sincerely he responded, her demeanour changed a bit. "Good. Take a seat. I presume you haven't been fully briefed on your new mission?"

"Negative." Michal answered. To be fair, he was just drafted into the fleet, and he was running late.

It was going to be a lengthy talk on her part so she poured herself a glass of water to keep her throat moist. "Here's a brief history lesson. Over the years, modern warfare has moved away from naval combat. For the most part, there wasn't a pressing need to modernize naval ships and to come up with innovative ship designs compared to the start of the 20th century. The main reason why navies are still around today is to project a nation's power. That and to protect any commercial transport sea vessels, fishing boats, travel vessels and tourist boats travelling in their sovereign waters. Still with me so far?"

"Yes," replied the young man.

"Good. About one year ago, a strange army appeared in Japanese waters. Nobody could tell what they are. In addition, we have no information on their chain of command, their society, how they live and where they may have come from. All we know is that they intend to take over the seas around the world as they've been spotted in other continents as well. This army… we call them the Abyssal fleet."

"Did the news ever cover this? I would have thought…"

"It was probably buried in some other section while the headlines covered other things. Who knew what those news editors were thinking?" Aosaki took a sip of her water. "At first, we tried fighting that army off with our destroyers and submarines but those… things were nimble and mobile. They were able to evade gunfire and packed enough punch of their own to sink our ships. While they can be affected by kinetic weapons, we aren't sure about the precise amount that they can take before they go down."

A thought came to Michal. "Would an energy weapon have worked?"

"Like there's any budget for those types of upgrades on our vessels!" came the sarcastic reply. "And if we tried a large scale air strike on those things, we'd probably end up damaging the ocean's ecosystem and get the Diet on our case."

"Wow, you really have your hands tied."

Aosaki continued on. "The upper brass wanted a way to allow soldiers to fight evenly with the Abyssals which led to the development of the Aqua Driver and the Aqua Miraider. The purpose of the Driver would be to collect combat data which would then be used to refine how the mass production version would be built."

"If that's the case, why was I chosen to be the wielder of the original Aqua Driver?" asked Michal in a confused tone. "I mean… I really wasn't comfortable around water back then."

She did recall reading about that in the earlier part of his personnel file. "If I recall correctly, Kougami had been in charge of choosing an appropriate candidate for the Aqua Driver and he chose you despite initial objections from other parties. His reason was that he felt that you would give birth to something beautiful by the time you matured. After reviewing your more recent combat performances and seeing how you've been handling yourself on the Miraider, I'm inclined to agree."

An irritated thought flew in Michal's head as he heard that name again. 'Figures he would have been involved. Wait a sec though…'

Did the younger Kougami see him during those battles back in 2011? If so, then that would have explained how the Kougami of 2051 had the Super Core Medals on hand and ready to go during that chain of events.

"So I guess I'm here to help with more testing? Is there a test-type production Driver ready? Who's going to be using it? Will it be one of those girls I ran into earlier? Asashio looks like she has a good head on her shoulders."

"Ah, I see you met her. She's a good ship," said Aosaki with a small smile.

"Wait… ship?" Did he hear right?

"Those girls… how should I put it?" She paused for a moment before finding where she wanted to go with this. "During the first meetings on how to handle the Abyssal army, there were some House members who opted to use supernatural means to combat the enemy like magic. They ended up funding a ritual which summoned the spirits of ancient Japanese naval vessels and reincarnated them as young girls known as Fleet Girls."

"Fleet Girls?" Michal blinked a few times. "For real?"

"That's the story that I know."

"But… when I looked at Asashio…" He could clearly still see her greeting smile in his mind.

"She's not truly human and that's the truth." With that, Aosaki reached into her desk and pulled out a small drive before sliding it over to Michal. "This contains some material that you will need to go through. Be sure to review it."

"Y-yes, ma'am!"

"Your main job will be to conduct the movements of the Seventh Fleet. Once you got some command training, you will then lead the Fleet into battle against the Abyssals. In regards to your training, you will be mentored by me and another special comrade."

"Another comrade?" Who could she mean?

* * *

 _Medical Wing, 1245 Hours_

"Alright... we are finished here."

Within the medical ward, one of the fleet members had done a medical check-up by the resident doctor. The thirty-five year old man took of his coat and put it on a hanger. He turned to his patient, "So, Nagato-kun. Remember to control your strength; you may be the admiral's secretary but that doesn't mean you must do everything by yourself. Your sister, Mutsu, is getting worried for you."

Nagato was a young woman with long, flowing black hair. She wore a white crop top and skirt, a metallic belt surrounding her waist. It has the Imperial Seal adorned as its buckle. The woman looked at the bandages wrapping her right hand.

"Don't think about it, young lady." the doctor scolded, "I've seen that look before."

"... Understood." She was well aware of the doctor's rank. As Chief Medical Officer, he had the final word on all health related matters in the base. "How long will I have to wear this for?"

"Fortunately, it will get better in a day. But don't do anything rash, or you'll be wearing it for a few more days." He warned the secretary. "Now go on, I have a report to write."

As Nagato was about to excuse herself, someone came into the door. Or rather, bumped her head into it and fell. All the doctor could do was sigh, "You did it again, didn't you?"

"Owie…" Nagato could see someone sprawled out on the ground after colliding into the door. She had on a white sailor style uniform, long black knee socks and lengthy blue hair that seemed to get lighter in colour when getting to the tips. Upon rubbing her forehead, she spotted who she was looking for. "There you are, Nagato-san! I've been looking for you!"

"Samidare, what do you need me for?"

"It's almost 1300 Hours! Everyone's gotta be there for the new guy's Welcome Party!" The Destroyer got up and brushed the dust off her dress before addressing the other occupant in the room. "Will you be coming too, Jin-hakase?"

Hearing what the younger girl call him, the doctor let out a small laugh, "Please, I may have a doctorate, but I'm not a professor. My father has that title; you can call me Keisuke."

Then, the trio went on to meet the new recruit. Out of everyone within the Seventh Fleet, Keisuke was the only one who knew who the new recruit was, for he has met the young man years ago.

Specifically, in the year 2011. Almost 40 years ago.

In fact, Jin Keisuke may look like a man in his thirties, he was far older than anybody could have thought. However, that is a story for another time; let's just say time travel was involved and he has waited for decades.

Right now, Keisuke is curious of how Michal Minato came to join the fleet, so he asked the secretary, "Nagato-kun, do you know how and why we recruited this young man...Minato Michal, was it?"

Due to the nature of time traveling, Keisuke wasn't sure if this Michal will be the same one he'd met decades ago. He was hoping that he's the same person as Hino Eiji described years ago.

"My understanding is that the upper brass felt that Minato's experiences in aquatic combat would be beneficial to pass on to the Destroyers," answered Nagato curtly just as they entered the boardroom which had been converted into a large buffet, filled with lots of different foods.

It was also around the same time when Aosaki brought the guest of honour in through another entrance. The moment he stepped through that door, all eyes from the Fleet Girls present turned to him causing his face to take on a nervous look. "Uh… hello?"

"Welcome to Maizuru Naval Base!" came the chorus of Fleet Girls.

* * *

It had been a rather exhausting hour for Minato being introduced to all the Fleet Girls who attended the party. There were a wide range of personalities too. There were super energetic girls who peppered their speech with other languages…

 _"It's the British-born returnee, Kongou!_ _ **Nice to meet you!"**_

… some who acted seriously tough…

 _"My name is Tenryuu. Fufufu, ya scared?"_

… and some who were seriously shy.

 _"I'm called Natori... I'll do my best not to trouble you!"_

It wasn't until mid afternoon that he had a chance to get some fresh air outside and by himself when the party ended with the Fleet Girls dispersing to resume their duties, whatever that may be. The whole concept still boggled him. Even though he had seen his share of fantastic creatures and monsters, he couldn't wrap his head around what he had just learned this morning about ships being reincarnated as young girls and women.

'Fleet Girls, huh?' Michal's eyes looked out towards the ocean as his ears picked up on a pair of footsteps approaching him from behind.

Keisuke approached the young man, and he was exactly how Eiji described him. Or more specifically, how the photo Eiji gave to him described the young man. Blue themed ensemble and medium-length brown hair with a blue streak.

"Minato Michal-kun... Once again, welcome to Maizuru." He extended his hand, which the younger man shook, "My name is Jin Keisuke, I'm the Chief Medical Officer here. Although, I'm more of a civilian member. Never really see myself as a military type."

"So you're the other mentor mentioned by Aosaki-san." Michal paused while an odd feeling of deja vu washed over him. "I hope I'm not sounding too strange but have we crossed paths before?"

Letting go of his hand, Keisuke replied, "Yes, I am. I was told that my medical expertise has greatly improved the health of the ship girls. And I can heal them much faster-of course, I had help-so you will be learning medicine and first-aid technique."

"Also, if you want some hand-to-hand combat practice, I could be your sparring partner." Keisuke added. Seeing the young man's surprised look made him smile, "Oh, don't worry. You won't get hurt. Much." the doctor finished with a laugh. "And to answer your question... no. Why do you ask?"

Keisuke already knew the answer, but decades of hiding his true identity has made him more cautious. 'I know you are trustworthy, but I cannot reveal myself to you.' he thought to himself, 'Not yet, at least. I may have known your fighting prowess, but what kind of man are you?'

"Sorry for asking that. I just had the feeling that we met once before but maybe it's just me." Michal did take some time to digest what Keisuke told him. Having some basic first-aid knowledge would be handy when doing field work.

'What type of martial arts does he practice? He must be pretty good at it if he's confident that he wouldn't hurt me much.'

"Enemy ship detected. Prepare to fire cannons! Pew pew pew! Sinking of enemy ship confirmed!"

"...?" Michal's attention was turned towards the dock where a girl sat alone with her legs swinging over the ledge. It was the same girl he spotted earlier in the day who hopped over Asashio, playing around with her toy gun turret. He was certain that she didn't go to the party earlier. "That girl... what was her name again?"

"Ah, that would be Shimakaze." Keisuke answered, "She's always like that."

He looked at the blond girl in amusement as she played with her miniature turret. Then, he turned to Michal, "Let me be the first to tell you that these ship girls can be quite handful if you don't know what you're doing. But fret not, I have a feeling that you will be fine They're all good girls; you just need to get use to their quirks." Said Keisuke, tapping Michal's shoulder. Then he asked, "So I hear you will be teaching the girls about aquatic combat? Any plans for that?"

"Well, I would have to see how they move around on the water first. I mean, they aren't swimming, are they?" A thought came to Minato before he took out the small drive given to him by Sumire and plugged it into his phone which gave him records and information on various Fleet Girls. "Let's see here... ah, Shimakaze. Standard armament is three type-D 12.7 cm 50 Caliber Model 3 Twin Guns and fifteen Model 3 Torpedoes. Initial maximum speed is 40.7 knots but factoring in integration of modern technology into the frame, this is raised to-"

"WAH!"

"Whoa!" The young man found himself narrowly avoiding Shimakaze's attempt to get his device. "What gives?!"

"I can't believe you would read a girl's secrets out loud like that! Have you no delicacy?!" screeched the small girl with her cheeks flushed red.

Keisuke merely smiled at the young ship girl's antics. But he should do something before they do something foolish.

"Alright, Shimakaze-chan, take it easy." Said the doctor, fingers gripping the collar of her dress. Michal was surprised that he lifted the girl easily with one hand, as if he was picking up a cat by its neck-or more accurately a rabbit due to her long ribbons. Keisuke calmly told the blond girl, "He's going to stay here as a new teacher, so of course he should know this kind of thing. And he's new here, so do forgive him, alright?

Seeing that her struggling was futile, Shimakaze crossed her arms, pouting in frustration. "I hate it when you do this, Oji-chan."

The older man laughed, then turned his gaze to Michal, "Still, she does have a point. Michal, do you know why doctor-patient confidentiality exist? They trust us to take care of them without letting them worry that others would find out. They have their reasons to keep whatever ailments they have a secret, and our only job is to heal them. I'm sure you've gone through school before, so let me ask you this; would you like it if a teacher just blab out your personal information?"

Michal was about to say something, but stopped. "I think you understand what I'm saying, right?" Keisuke added.

"... Yes, I do." He turned to the girl still held by the doctor. "I'm sorry for earlier."

"Hmph!" She opted to ignore Michal for now and glanced back at the man behind her. "You can let me down now, Oji-chan." And he did just that. The girl was still pouting, but at least she wasn't trying to attack the younger man.

"How about this?" Michal reached into his pocket for the stack of vouchers he received from the Vice Admiral during his meeting. The vouchers acted as currency on the base, able to purchase some luxuries like getting days off or special treats from the cafeteria. "As an apology, I'll give you a voucher so you can grab a dessert of your choice."

"... Make it two! Rensouhou-chan's hungry for some ice cream!"

This only caused the young man to chuckle once. "My, my... such an aggressive negotiator."

And thus, the trio walked into the cafeteria. Michal was unsure of how his life will go on after this day, but he had a feeling that everything will be fine. He will not let his newfound courage be wasted.

Jin Keisuke has been alive for more than a century, and has decades of fighting experience. He had live a long life due to his condition. He has gained and lost friends over the years, but even though he may outlive them, Keisuke shall always cherish the memories he had with them. Today was no different.

Alas, despite the peaceful moment of the day, tomorrow may not be as generous; dark shadows of the abyss lingers beyond the ocean, and old ghosts could have been hiding all this time... waiting for the right moment.

* * *

 **Hey guys, Stranger here. Sorry for being away, but as you know, life happens. And life just happens to give me a chance to do something cool, like this: my first ever collaboration fanfic! Say hello to Epsilon Zeta, everybody!**

 **EZ: Hidey ho! I know my own fans are going to complain about me taking on another writing project but what can I do when the muse nudges me into another direction? I envy you youngsters who actually have time to write.**

 **Stranger: Where the muse calls, the artist follows. And our respective muses lead us here. Anyway, a Kamen Rider x Kantai Collection fanfic! He wanted to do one with Aqua, and I've always wanted to write one starring Kamen Rider X... these two are** ** _the_** **most fitting Kamen Riders to have in Kancolle, considering their marine theme, but so far nobody has ever thought of it. Until now. So we helped each other by doing a collab, and thus a fanfic was born!**

 **EZ: We're going to do our best to be accurate to Kancolle source material but it's a real big open world out there in that franchise, plot wise.**

 **Stranger: And as a certain song goes, Anything Goes, so prepare yourselves.**

 **Ooh, one last thing; as my usual M.O. the Kamen Riders will be based on their Super Imaginative Chogokin figures. Yes, even Aqua-even though it's only a figurine for Wizard's Hero Saga-because... well, y'all know how much I love SIC.**

 **Of course, you can view them in their original designs if you want. X-Rider however,** ** _will_** **look like his SIC figure. I mean, Kancolle is set in 2051; a century since the birth of his actor, Hayami Ryo. Not to mention it's 40 years after the events of Movie Wars Megamax, which is the year Michal lives in. Since Jin Keisuke has no confirmed birthdate, I'm using the actor's. Surely Keisuke would be upgraded by this time, lest he gets rusty. Literally.**

 **Also, SIC!X-Rider has a gun.**

 **Anyway; Read, Review, and Rejoice! The Stranger returns, and he has brought a friend.**


	2. Second Wave

**Second Wave**

 _Maizuru Naval Base, April 4th 2051, 0640 Hours_

"… and in regards to the outstanding case, there has been no progress made on the investigation," reported Nagato.

"I see." Aosaki stirred her spoon in her coffee cup, making sure that all the milk, cream and sugar had dissolved to make her coffee blend just the way she wanted it. "Thanks for the status updates."

"Then if you'll excuse me." Before the flagship could walk out, the Vice Admiral called out to her.

"Your hand… what happened to it?"

"There was a minor accident yesterday when moving some munitions around the storage warehouse." The secretary glanced at her injured hand, opening and closing it to feel any pain. There was none. "My grip had been too tight on some crates which resulted in the load falling on my right hand. There's no need to worry though. I've been cleared by the doctor to have the bandages removed by approximately 1300 Hours so I will be able to make any afternoon sorties you have planned."

"No, I don't have anything like that right now," clarified the naval woman while taking a sip of coffee. "But that bit of clumsiness back there is a bit odd for you. Is there something you would like to talk about?"

Nagato paused for a moment before speaking. "The truth is… it felt like a memory sleeping within me started waking up. I recall a landscape… friendly and enemy ships, a giant light… and oblivion."

Aosaki felt a bit surprised hearing her Secretary open up so quickly. Honestly, she had expected that either she would have to spend more time trying to get Nagato to open up or that Nagato would be so stubborn about keeping this to herself that the matter would be dropped. "I see. What do you plan to do? Do you want to try and regain that memory fully or would you rather let it sleep?"

"What would you suggest, Commander?"

"You need to decide for yourself. Look inside and see if you feel whether the memory is worth trying to get back. Typically, you would want to retain good memories to honour a treasured time. But even bad memories can have some worth as they force us to remember key lessons learned during rather dark times."

The flagship noticed how the Vice-Admiral spoke. "It seems that you have some personal experiences."

"Well, I would like to think I learned a few things about being a better person after my recent divorce." Aosaki gave a wistful smile while idly stirring her coffee. "Anyways, that's your food for thought for today… or should I say fuel for thought?"

"I appreciate your input on this matter, Commander," said Nagato before saluting.

"If you need to talk further about your situation, I'm always available. Or you can drop in Keisuke's clinic and he'll be happy to help as well." With that, she downed the coffee in one last gulp. "I better not keep you from your work. You're dismissed."

* * *

Speaking of remembering the past, a certain doctor was doing just that in his office.

Jin Keisuke was sitting next to his desk. An old photo album rested on its surface. Each pages shows different events of his life. One had him standing with his four seniors and two juniors, alongside the elderly man who was their teacher on a quarry with a smoking pipe on his hand. Another has him standing alongside a young man, his face was scarred and had a prosthetic right leg-which is also a shotgun. The third was one of the more recent ones he got decades ago. He was in a restaurant, eating a bowl of ramen alongside two younger people; a girl and a man with bushy brown hair. Said young man was blowing his noodles because it was too hot for him, and the girl pointed at him, laughing at the expression he made.

'So many memories... sometimes I wonder why do we stay when the ones we care are now gone?'

Keisuke was having one of those days. He had moved on in many things, but sometimes memories of the past pulled him back. He missed the friends he made, both from his younger days, and beyond.

Closing the book, Keisuke looked to a certain framed photograph, and hold it in his hand. It was of his father and himself as a child. Both wore karate _gi_ and were standing near a beach shore. His father, Jin Keitaro, was a strict man. Some part of him still resent him for being distant, but he never held any hatred towards him. Not anymore.

One of the few regrets that he has is that he cannot find any photos of his mother. Nor anything with his parents and himself together. 'I don't even remember how she looked like anymore...' Keisuke thought to himself.

Then, he smiled in a melancholic way, "I wonder of the others have this kind of days... I'm too old for this."

"Too old for what?" asked a female voice as someone entered the office for her morning shift. Known as Akashi the Repair Ship, she had long pink hair and wore a standard school fuku with a white top and blue dress. "Ooh... what's this? A photo album?"

The curious shipgirl moved over and flipped open the book to a random page. One of the pictures caught her eye quickly and she pointed out to the snapshot of the three people eating ramen together. "Is that you when you were younger, Keisuke? Wow, you have such a cat's tongue!"

'Yep. Definitely too old for this; especially if I let my guard down like this. Oyaa-san would scold me for being careless.'

Keisuke was so focused on the past, he forgot to pay attention to the present. Specifically, using his enhanced hearing to listen to footsteps coming closer to his office. Explaining the picture of his father, he could do. But explaining that he was actually the older, middle-aged man rather than the younger one? This would be difficult.

'Should I be honest, or keep silent?' is what Keisuke has been thinking. He was about to answer when Akashi asked him about the framed photo he's holding. He can answer that easily, "Oh, this is me and my father. We were training karate near a beach on our old home. I could never beat him."

"That pic looks kinda old. I guess you're a fan of classic cameras and black and white photos. Now back to that other picture with the ramen. Who's that girl with you? Is she your old girlfriend?" Her mouth was moving pretty fast to get all that out in such a short timespan.

On one hand, Keisuke was amused by her enthusiasm. It's rare for him to talk about his own life to other people; he doesn't even know what kind of lives his seniors and juniors had been living unless they told it to him. He would love to open up with people, since socializing is healthy.

But on the other, she's going to blow his cover. If he did talk, how is he to explain why he looked so young now while he looked old in the photo? So far, only the admiral and Nagato knew of who he really is. He'd prefer to only have the admiral to know it, but Nagato was an insightful and observant girl.

However, the mention of a girlfriend had sparked an old memory. One that he would rather not remember. But something in him urges Keisuke to talk.

"Actually... she's not." Keisuke answered, "I was cruising the country when I found them in a restaurant."

'Okay, keep it vague, but truthful...'

Keisuke continued, "I had a... personal problem back then, and these two helped me resolve it. I had a fiancee once, her name was Mizuki Ryoko. She had a twin sister, Kiriko."

Keisuke looked up to the ceiling. Were he to see Akashi's face, he'd see her sad expression. But he continued, "Something... bad happened. They're gone now. It feels like a lifetime ago, but I cannot forget about them. Not to mention my father passed away a few weeks before..."

Taking a deep breath, the doctor went on, "That's where I met them. They basically cheered me up. I hope they're doing fine now." he said with a smile. 'Although I doubt they are, especially you, Takumi...'

"Ooh..." Akashi felt a bit guilty for digging in a bit too much. That's Aoba's job as the base's newshound. "Sorry for prying. Anyways, what appointments do we have for today?"

Keisuke turned to Akashi and gave her a smile, "It's alright. I think you helped me the same way they did. Thank you."

The girl blushed, but she didn't get a chance to respond as Keisuke put the framed photo back to his desk and got up from the chair, "Actually, there's no appointments today. I was thinking of taking a walk around the base. Do you mind looking after the office, Akashi-kun?"

"No problem! Just make sure you take a walkie talkie with you in case of an emergency!" Yes, those things were still around military bases even in the mid 21st Century.

Keisuke grabbed the aforementioned device, and strapped it onto his utility belt. "Don't worry, I won't forget it. Amazing that this thing is still around; I thought people today would use those... iDroid things, was it?"

Seeing the girl's confused face, Keisuke scratched his head and let out a small laugh, "Sorry, but I rarely keep up with today's technology. Still, don't fix what's not broken, right?"

"Indeed. See you around, Keisuke!" With that, Akashi went right to work, sorting the completed paperwork and moving certain pages to their respective patient folders.

* * *

It was 7 AM when Michal's alarm went off. One shower and a change of clothes later, he went down to the cafeteria to pick up breakfast. He noted that during regular meal times, the cafeteria actually set up separators to create two distinct sections. One seating section would be used by lower ranked personnel and students while the other seating section would be used by those with higher ranks or special staff members like himself. This explained the relatively empty section that he took his meal in while the other section was pretty lively with conversation.

He checked his schedule for his orientation day. First up would be observing some of the Destroyer drills being held at 0800 Hours near the Northern docks. Remembering what Aosaki told him the day before about tardiness, he quickly finished his morning meal before making haste to his next location where he spotted the group already assembled on the water.

The class of Destroyers consisted of Asashio, Shimakaze, Samidare, a girl in a black sailor fuku with long blonde hair and green eyes and finally, a girl in a white jacket covering a red sailor fuku with a blue bow. Her hair was predominantly grey with some hints of purple while only one blue eye was revealed, the other hidden behind hair bangs. As for the one running the drills, it was a slightly older woman with a white headband in her brown hair. Her eyes were brown as well and her wardrobe consisted of a purple top and skirt.

'Those last two girls… their names are Yuudachi and Asashimo,' thought Michal to himself. 'I see that they have Ashigara running their class.'

Along with their usual outfits, everyone appeared to have various bits of equipment on them that resembled the parts of naval ships. Yuudachi for example wore a giant smokestack on her back like a backpack.

"Yo, Minato-san!" greeted Asashimo.

"What is Minato-san doing here, poi?" asked Yuudachi.

"He's here to observe today's drills," came the reply from Ashigara.

Samidare looked on in slight confusion. "What for? I thought he was a new addition to the command staff and would be with the Vice-Admiral."

"That's only part of his job. He's also going to be serving as a special teacher here, passing on some of his own experiences to you ladies. So please treat him well."

"Really?!" Asashio seemed really excited upon hearing what Ashigara just said before she turned and bowed deeply at the young man. "I look forward to learning from you, Minato-sensei!"

"Seeeeeenseeeeeeeei~!" The word was drawn out in a mocking tone from Shimakaze. "You really are an Honour Student, Asashio."

Before the other Destroyer could shoot back a response, Ashigara quickly took control of things. "Enough already. Minato-san, will you be needing your own boat?"

"No, I'm good. I have this." He pulled out his device and scrolled to a small icon shaped like a mini jet ski in yellow before pushing it. Moments later, his personal vehicle arrived at his location. It's known as the Aqua Miraider, capable of travelling on land, air and sea. Right now, it was in hovercraft formation for travel on the Ground. The back part contained a small space for storage where he had stashed his safety helmet. After getting that equipped, he hopped on his vehicle and directed it into the water with the bottom portion of the vehicle changing for aquatic operation.

Asashimo gave a small whistle. "Pretty slick ride ya got there, teach."

"Thanks. And I'm not a teacher yet so you can just call me Michal-san like you did before," replied the young man while Ashigara turned to address the group of Destroyers.

"Alright, let's get started! We'll run our warm up laps around the base as usual so get to it!"

"Roger!" The group of Destroyers got in single file formation before their legs began moving similarly to how ice skaters move on ice. Within moments, they were gone which led Michal and Ashigara alone.

"So that's how they move…?"

"Indeed," replied the instructor behind him. "Our field abilities such as movement, attack and defense are based on two main factors: our original design schematics of the Imperial Japanese Navy along with our service history. An example is how Musashi has the strongest natural armour out of us Fleet Girls due to taking a lot of damage during the Battle of Sibuyan Sea. It's a shame that she couldn't claim victory that day."

"Uh huh…"

"If you want, we can sit down together and I'll tell you other miscellaneous facts that might prove helpful to you on handling some of the more interesting members of the fleet," offered Ashigara.

"That's not a bad idea. I'll have to see how my schedule looks like though." This could prove to be useful since the data on his information drive from Aosaki really contained more technical elements and didn't truly give him behavioural traits that he needed to be aware of which could affect the way he approached and treated the girls. "Anyways, I'm going to catch up with the class and watch their movements. If you'll excuse me."

Michal then directed the Aqua Miraider in the direction of the Destroyer class while Ashigara smiled at how their interaction went.

'Fufufufu… the first step has been taken. If my luck holds, i will achieve my Ultimate Victory!'

She had been feeling a bit down when her continuous attempts to charm Keisuke kept falling flat. But Luck had been on her side as another suitable man came to the base and may ultimately be the one who finally helps her shake off that Christmas Cake status. Already, she liked what she saw with the blue clad youth and looked forward to getting to know him better.

'Michal, beware! The Hungry Wolf is on the prowl and she has you in her sights!'

… Godspeed, Kamen Rider Aqua.

* * *

 _April 3rd 2051, National Museum of the US Navy, Washington, DC, 1815 Hours EST_

And speaking of GOD, trouble brews in the Star Spangled Nation.

The hallways were quiet, as expected since visiting hours were done for the day at the museum. By this time, a shift change would have occurred for some of the security staff to go on a meal break. Instead, all of the guards were knocked out cold and the security system deactivated while a group of thieves went to work. Honestly, it wasn't like there was anything of major financial value being stored in the museum and there was no way that any of the historical artifacts could have fetched a big price on the black market.

But they still moved forward as they were ordered to obtain that part for their superior. Apparently, he was eager to resume his experiments with those trinkets, even after the first batch went rogue. What they were after was a time capsule which contained mementos from previous American ships that bore the name Enterprise. While it had originally been presented to the first captain of the PCU Enterprise during her launch ceremony in 2027, he generously donated it to the museum a few years later.

With the time capsule retrieved, the figures moved back to their waiting black van and made a hasty retreat, just in case there had been a silent alarm triggered to alert authorities. It would be a few minutes until their spatial warper had enough energy to open a large enough gate for the van. While they drove along the road, the driver made a sharp left turn at an intersection, nearly causing an approaching motorcyclist to nearly crash.

'Found you.' The motorcyclist revved up his vehicle and picked up speed before cutting off the black van, making it come to a forced stop. As soon as it did, he parked his vehicle and removed his helmet before glaring angrily at the van's driver.

"Geez, that was dangerous! Who taught you how to drive?!"

"What's that kid doing?" asked the van driver while staring at the angry Japanese youth. His hair looked like it was dyed brown and he was dressed in a black jacket over a white t-shirt with a black landscape drawing on it. He had a standard pair of jeans and black sneakers.

"Che… don't have time for this." The figure sitting in the passenger seat got out of the vehicle and pulled a gun but before he could fire on that boy, his weapon got knocked away by a blue blur. "What the…?!"

The blue blur revealed himself as a figure that resembled an Oni with pointed horns, black upper chest armour and shoulder pads. "Looks like your hunch paid off, Kotaro."

"Did you expect any less, Teddy?"

"... the hell?! You're no cop!" exclaimed the driver upon seeing the smug look on the young man's face.

"That's true but considering how this theft seems to be related to the Abyssals as a whole, I'm obligated to look into this."

"What do you mean?!" This kid was seriously on to them!

"Debris was found from the first battle between the Abyssal destroyers who got defeated by the Fleet Girls. They matched the stolen trinkets. And just now, you stole a time capsule containing mementos that belong to one of America's most famous naval ships. The connection is obvious…" Kotaro pointed his finger at the group of thieves. "You're involved in the creation of the Abyssals!"

"If you know that much, then you have to die!" At once, the passenger door slid open with two rear passengers charging wildly with their swords. But as they approached, the blue oni took on one of them while Kotaro dodged the wide sword strikes of his other opponent and put some distance between himself and the enemy before whipping out a belt and slinging it to his waist. The colour was predominantly pale gold from the outer rims to the SetTouch in the Terminal Buckle.

In a flash, his spare hand retrieved the Rider Pass in his pocket before scanning it against his buckle. "Henshin!"

" **STRIKE FORM** "

On cue, a blue body suit began to form on his body while parts of his armour hovered all around him. After a while, the final part of the lens went down to his helmet and split into two to form the lenses. Now he was in his complete form with winged, pointy shoulder pads, a piece of chest armour that resembled a rail on it to match with the belt, and the DenGasher on his sides.

"... a Kamen Rider!" It was hissed out with such venom in the cloaked figure's voice.

"That's right. Kamen Rider Den-O. My strength…" Kotaro paused to snap his fingers twice. "… is for real."

"... I thought Den-O was a red hotblooded idiot who kept going 'Ore Sanjou!'," remarked the mook who had lost his gun earlier.

"Wait, Den-O's some blue playboy who wants to reel girls in!" corrected the driver.

"No, he's a purple break-dancer who can't hear what others are saying!"

"Nah, I'm sure he's a yellow bear whose strength makes others cry!" The moment didn't last for long as that last enemy mook raised his sword again. "Who cares?! We're still killing ya!"

Kotaro gave an exasperated grunt as he parried the attack with his arm before kicking his opponent in the stomach, driving him back. "Geez, how can you mistake me for that guy?!"

"Well, he is a very memorable character after all," admitted Teddy, leaping over a wild swing from another enemy to land by his partner's side.

"You mean those Imagin, not my gramps." Kotaro then snapped his fingers again before Teddy leapt into the air, changing into a sword for the Rider to wield. "Ah, whatever… let's wrap this up quickly."

"Count?"

"Let's see…"

Before the thieves could resume their attack, one of cried out, "Hold it! The boss is talking."

Holding an earpiece, he listened intently as the person on the other side gave him orders, " _Alright, so let me get this straight; everything went well until this Kamen Rider appeared?_ "

"Yes, sir. He calls himself Den-O."

" _... Is he telling everyone that he has arrived, or is he a young looking punk in blue who has his blue butler following him?_ "

"Well, technically he's navy blue, boss, but yes."

The voice chuckled in amusement, " _Ah... so it's the New Den-O. I always wanted to fight that kid. Hold him off, I'm coming._ "

"But, boss! We don't have the tech to handle him!"

" _Didn't our... benefactor, gave you all briefcases filled with something good? Use them._ "

The goon immediately took the aforementioned briefcase, and clicked it opened. He then threw a few belts to his comrades.

"Ah, finally! I thought we weren't supposed to use them yet!" a younger member commented, putting the belt around his waist.

"Boss' orders. It's show time, boys."

All six of them stood side-by-side, the buckle of their belts were in a vertical position, its other end on the right side of the users. They were primarily red in colour with the centre portion of the buckle ready to be fit into place.

Behind the visors, New Den-O widened his eyes, "Those belts… It can't be!"

An older looking goon laughed at the Rider, "You'll never live long enough to find out why we have this. Let's do this!", he shouted, and all six cried out one word:

" ** _HENSHIN!_** "

 **COMPLETE**

One flash of light later and they were now in black bodysuits with red armour, and a helmet that made the wearer look like an insect with a single circular plate acting as a face masl. All of them wielded a strange looking dagger.

"They look like Riotroopers but the coloring is different. Are these modified Smart Buckles?" mused Kotaro.

"That's probably the case," came Teddy's response. "Then… would that mean the Abyssals are failed results in an attempt to create some new type of Orphenoch?"

"HAAAA!" Three of the red Riotroopers charged forward with their daggers ready while the other three began reassembling their weapon to form a pistol shape.

"Speculate later! In the meantime…" Kotaro brought up his weapon to block two simultaneous attacks thanks to the length of his blade before making a forceful motion to the right to knock them off balance, giving him a chance to make a counter attack. He directed a swing of his blade in a counterclockwise direction to hit and damage their chest armour, generating sparks. "Twenty seconds for this first batch!"

"Acknowledged."

"Cocky punk!" One cried out, he charged at New Den-O, going for a leaping stab. The Rider easily dodged the attack, and slashed him away.

"Twenty, nineteen, eighteen..."

The trio who has their daggers in gun modes fired a volley of shots, which New Den-O dodged and retaliate with a few shots of his own via the MacheTeddy.

"Oi, what are you doing?! Can't you hit that guy?!" shouted the Riotrooper who had been assigned the role of vehicle driver.

"Sixteen, fifteen, fourteen..."

"I'm a thief, not a marksman! And it's not like you're doing any-" The sentence got cut off as the weapon got sliced up by Kotaro's sword before he took a hold of the enemy's collar and tossed him aside, landing on his butt near the first group.

"Thirteen, twelve, eleven..."

'Damn, he's fast!' The driver Riotrooper tried a point blank shot at New Den-O but the Rider ducked, causing the energy discharge to hit the other Riotrooper instead. Seeing him disoriented, Kotaro weaved behind and kicked the stumbling enemy right towards the driver. 'And what's with that sword of his counting down?'

"Catch!"

"Eh?!" Just as he caught his comrade, Kotaro made an upward swing with his sword, sending them stumbling back towards the other Riotroopers.

"Ten, nine..." Teddy continued his countdown which got the youth's attention.

"Better finish this quickly now that they're all together." He whipped out his Rider Pass and scanned it against his buckle...

 **FULL CHARGE**

... causing Teddy to glow with energy. With his weapon now powered up, Kotaro released a series of energy slashes against the group of enemies, causing all of them to be enveloped within a gigantic explosion of power. Once things settled down and the smoke cleared, he could see all of them sprawled out on the ground with their suits deactivated and even their cloaks damaged, revealing a strange looking logo on the chest.

'It can't be... that's the-'

" **Apollo Magnum!** "

Before Kotaro could finish that thought, a loud explosion came from his left. As soon as he recognized it as a gunshot, his instincts kicked in and he rolled to the side just as a projectile sailed over his body and hit a statue, blowing it to smithereens.

"Huh. So this is what you looked like."

Kotaro's head turned towards the source of the voice before a small gasp of surprise escaped his lungs.

They had crossed paths once before in a sense. To be honest though, the one he remembered seeing looked a bit different. Despite the similarly designed helmet, cape, and shield, this individual looks nothing like the one he had met. For one thing, he looked more intimidating, especially with that giant tubular weapon attached on his right forearm. A purplish blade sat on the end of the tube, around it were holes that might be a projectile weapon; a bayonet of sorts. His winged helmet that covered his entire head has a silver device attached in front of it. On the shoulder of his shield arm, was a small red shoulder guard.

Kotaro had done some studying on the history of Kamen Rider, and the young man recognized who this menacing figure is.

"Apollo Geist?!" He shouted, taking a stance while he did so. 'This one looked different... could he be the one from the original timeline?'

"The one, and only." He taunted, before aiming his signature weapon, the Apollo Magnum, at the Rider. "Let's see how strong today's Kamen Riders are compared to... him."

* * *

 **Stranger: Hello again, everybody! Stranger here, and now we get to see who the antagonist are. Apollo Geist returns, the goons using Riotrooper gears, not to mention stealing some World War II artifacts... I wonder what they're gonna do with them.**

 **EZ: I recall some readers asking for Rider action and here it is... but not in the way you were likely expecting! While things are relatively calm in the Land of the Rising Sun, danger runs amok in America's Capital.**

 **Stranger: Worry not, they're all connected. Ooh, a reminder that Apollo Geist is physically based on his SIC Figure. Same goes to New Den-O and the Riotroopers. I'm sure you can google them to get a better idea on what they look like. Anyway, this Geist is the original; not the one from Decade (which I never liked to be honest) but the one from the original Kamen Rider X show. Clips of him in motion are hard to find, but when I found them, he was an instant favorite to me, like how General Shadow from Kamen Rider Stronger was.**

 **EZ: To be fair, if it wasn't for that AU Apollo Geist showing up in Decade and subsequently Battride War, New Den-O likely wouldn't know of him on a more personal basis.**

 **Stranger: True, not to mention that it's thanks to that new Apollo Geist and General Shadow that I got interested in finding out what their original selves are like. Shadow was still cool, but Geist could've been done better. And speaking of Battride War, I'm so happy that there's a new one coming next year! Finally, the Showa Riders make their debut. I do hope Riderman is playable.**

 **Anyway, Read, Review, and Rejoice!**


	3. Third Wave

_**Third Wave**_

The moment Geist referred to 'him', two possibilities came to Kotaro's mind.

The first was Kadoya Tsukasa, aka Kamen Rider Decade. Considering that Decade had stolen and destroyed the Perfecter in a previous encounter, it was reasonable to assume that Geist would hold a serious grudge against the man referred to as the Destroyer of Worlds.

The other was Jin Keisuke, aka Kamen Rider X. The man who had single-handedly brought down the Government of Darkness and prevented them from taking over the world.

After a quick glance at the uniforms of the mooks he battled earlier and seeing the GOD logo on their chests, it was highly likely that this Geist was the genuine original one and that he referred to Keisuke. If that's the case, his resurrection was either because of something happening in the timeline that undid his death in the first place or because of someone or something had been able to acquire Geist's soul from the world of the dead and anchor it to a new body here.

He couldn't be too surprised at either possible explanation. Shocker scientists did create the History Modifying Machine and were able to manipulate the timeline as they wished, while the Badan Empire basically shattered the barrier that separated the dead from the realm of the living for a brief period.

Kotaro briefly shook his head to regain his focus and readied his sword while keeping an eagle eye on Geist. "I don't know for sure who you're referring to but in the end, that doesn't matter to me. I'll show you that my strength is for real!"

"Hmmph. Boastful."

Apollo sidestepped from New Den-O's attacks, not once has he attempted to counter them. "Your swing that blade of yours like it is a baseball bat. This is no high school brawl, boy." He taunted, before parrying New Den-O's sword aside and slammed his Geist Cutter shield into his body.

New Den-O could see the smirk from his helmet as Apollo Geist chuckled, "I wouldn't be surprised if you dyed your hair like some _yankii_ punk."

"There's nothing wrong with Kotaro colouring his hair! Why, ever since he did, his popularity with the teenage females at his school has gone up by 15 per-"

"Teddy, you're not helping!" Ugh, why did his partner have to embarrass him like that?

'Still, Geist is able to move so easily and avoid all my attacks while keeping that heavy shield on him.' New Den-O certainly felt the impact of that hit earlier. Somehow, he has to separate Geist from the shield. Once that objective was completed, going in for close combat should be a bit easier.

With a new plan in mind, he readied himself again.

Apollo simply laughed, "Let me guess, you think without this shield, I am nothing?"

The executioner took a stance, his Apollo Magnum bayonet pointed at the Rider, and his Geist Cutter shield away from him. "If you wish to have a closer look at my shield, then by all means..."

After shooting a few rounds with the Apollo Magnum, with all his might, he threw his shield like a discus with blinding speed. He can see that the Rider was surprised, but Apollo Geist did not give him a chance to retaliate. He shot a few more volley of projectile from the Apollo Magnum as the shield gets closer to New Den-O.

" _ **GEIST CUTTER!**_ "

'Damn!' Kotaro cursed. It was bad enough having to try and avoid the barrage of shots but the way they were spread out practically kept him trapped within the Geist Cutter's movement path. His eyes could see the shield coming closer to him. 'No choice… gotta try and knock it away!'

He raised the Macheteddy to intercept the Cutter…

As he braced himself for the impact, the spinning shield started to glow red, and spun faster. Like a buzzsaw, it was grinding itself into the MacheTeddy, but the Imagin-Sword was durable. However, the force was too much for New Den-O, not to mention Apollo Geist's shots was starting to get more accurate.

Then, one of the bullets struck his legs, combined with the spinning shield, New Den-O flew back as the shield threw him and the MacheTeddy to the ground.

Raising his left arm, the Geist Cutter returned to its owner, "You may think that your superior technology and experience will be enough to handle me. But like him, and the rest of his brethren, I get stronger with age. You still have much to learn, Rider."

"Che…!" New Den-O rolled to his side to retrieve his weapon before he slowly got up on one knee while trying to regain his breath. 'What would gramps do in this situation?'

Perhaps the most obvious answer would be to try a new form, either by having someone else possess him or by combining everyone's power to access Super Climax form, or maybe Liner Form. Unfortunately, Kotaro didn't have that sort of versatility since he had only Teddy as his Imagin partner.

"Oi, why are you having all the fun?" Coming up from behind Apollo Geist was a figure who wore a Riotrooper suit like the other foot soldiers he fought earlier but it seemed to have additional features on it. In a sense, it almost seemed like a custom version of the suit for a field commander or one of GOD's better combat soldiers. "Didn't I call dibs on New Den-O?"

The executioner turned around, seeing the source of the voice getting off his Gyro Attacker motorcycle, "Ah, if it isn't the young commander of the Riotrooper... using the Version Two model, are you?"

The Riotrooper Commander scoffed, "Don't patronize me, old man. Just because you've been doing this longer doesn't mean you can just take over my operation." Turning to his Gyro Attacker motorcycle, he pulled out one of its handles and as it was pulled, a red beam glowed and materialize into an energy blade. He swung it a few times before turning its edge to face his back, wielding it in reverse.

"Still, I'm glad for two things," he told the executioner, "You didn't kill my men, and you haven't finished the Rider off yet."

Apollo Geist replied, "Were I given the order, I would do so. But since they used the belts for the first time, it is... excusable. Next time, however, I will not be as merciful."

The Commander scoffed, "If you did have the order, who's going to carry all of the loot we got today, you?" Snapping his fingers, he ordered the surviving men, "All of you, get that van back to base. I'll handle this guy."

"But, sir!" One goon cried out, "What about the others?" he asked, pointing at his unconscious comrades.

Apollo interjected, "Leave them, obviously. GOD has no need for weaklings."

He was about to retort, but he held back, remembering who he was speaking with. Thankfully, he didn't need to voice his opinion.

"Hey, they're my men. If anybody is telling them what to do, it's me!" Said the Riotrooper Commander, "Check if any of them are still alive, and carry them into the van. If they're not... at least get the belts." He ordered, before swinging his sword and pointing its edge to New Den-O, "I'll hold him off."

"T-thank you, sir!" the goon expressed, and dashed towards his fallen comrades.

Apollo Geist simply watched the situation. It was extremely rare for anybody to stand up to him; usually they end up dead. But the whelp wearing the customized Riotrooper armor was something else. "Very well. Let's see how you handle the Rider. He was no fun anyway..."

"Are you gonna yap about how nobody can match up to Kamen Rider X again? He should be dead by now, that relic is probably rusting in the ocean."

New Den-O felt the menacing glare Apollo Geist gave the Riotrooper-who either ignored or not noticed it-as if he was offended on the X-Rider's behalf. As he saw the van leaving after that one goon carried the surviving men, he was about to reach Teddy-groaning in pain as he shifted back into his Imagin form-before the Riotrooper Commander shot the space between them with his Axel Ray dagger-pistol weapon on his left hand.

"I don't think so."

'Well, this is a bit of a sticky situation...' Despite the beating he had taken earlier, Kotaro still felt a sense of calmness in him. It was probably because he had been in worse situations before such as nearly being publicly executed along with Ankh and Eiji in the alternate timeline where Shocker ruled all.

His body still ached as he got up but at the least, the pain wasn't seriously hindering him. "What happened to wanting a proper fight with me? This hardly seems sporting."

"With your sorry state, I changed my mind." came the sharp reply before firing again with the pistol, hitting New Den-O's chest armour and sending him flying back while sparks flew due to the armor damage. 'Che… even on max settings, the pistol's energy output isn't enough? Guess I gotta finish this with the sword then.'

"Kotaro!" Teddy tried to crawl over but this was noticed by the Commander who promptly strolled over and kicked the Imagin further away from the Rider.

"No heroics for you, mister." Frankly, he was aware of how often Kamen Riders were able to obtain victory even when the odds were stacked against them. So he intended to finish things right away.

But as he got got closer to New Den-O, his hearing picked up the faint sound of a train whistle blowing in the distance...

"Well, shit. I forgot there's more than just you."

The Riotrooper Commander looked up to the starry skies, a black train with bull horns was speeding out of the Desert of Time. It was the Zeroliner, and the duo who use it are about to show how fairly strong they are.

The train slowed down as it got close to the ground, the Commander jumped back to avoid getting rundown by it. As it made it pass, two figures are standing between New Den-O and Teddy, and the villains.

One was a young man in black, with medium-length brown hair. The one next to him is his Imagin, a hooded being in black with a mask resembling a bird. His forearms are metallic gray, every end of his digits are hollow, for he can shoot projectiles with them.

Kotaro instantly recognize the two, "Deneb... Grunkle Sakurai!"

Yuuto Sakurai turned around, an irritated look on his face, "Don't call me that!"

"But, Yuuto!" Deneb interrupted, "Since you have married Airi-san, and considering Ryotaro-kun is her brother, that makes Kotaro-kun her great nephew. Thus, you are his great uncle. Also, don't you remember watching that old Disney cartoon where the kids calls an older relative Grunkle? I thought you liked that."

Yuuto smacked Deneb's arm, "Shut up, Deneb!"

"Yuuto! If you are worried about being called old, do not worr-"

"I am not old!"

"But you _are_ his-"

"I know that, but look at me! I'm not old!"

"You will be though."

" ** _DENEB!_** "

The argument got cut off as their hearing picked up the sound of a blaster discharge from the Riotrooper Commander. On reaction, they split apart with Yuuto rolling to one side while Deneb landed right by Kotaro and bumped into him, causing him to hiss in pain which was picked up by the Imagin. "Kotaro, you're injured?"

"Nothing serious. Don't worry about me."

"I cannot do that. I'll take over for you while you go rest."

"Wai-" New Den-O got cut off as Deneb's physical form vanished and entered his body, causing his suit to change and the belt to cry out two words:

" **VEGA FORM** "

With that, new chest armour covered his upper body while the centre of the armour had a small decoration that looked like Deneb's face. His big red optics vanished, replaced with a helmet and black visor that somewhat resembled the back of Deneb's head. He now wielded a naginata which was formed by the DenGasher pieces.

As for Yuuto, he got his belt ready before grabbing one of his Zeronos cards. He then slid it in with the green side facing forward to form the letter 'A' in green on his buckle before pulling the sliding mechanism on the top of the belt, causing it to play a calm, whistle-like tune. "Henshin!"

" **ALTAIR FORM** "

The suit that formed on his body was predominantly in green and silver colours with a yellow 'Y' shape on his chest that resembled train tracks to some extent. A large mooing sound was heard as a pair of emerald bull heads travelled on the yellow train track designs on his head before settling down to form his green optics over his eyes.

After assembling the ZeroGasher in Sabre Mode, he planted it on the ground before beginning his speech. "Let me say this to start…"

"The face on my chest is purely for decoration!" cut in Deneb, now possessing Kotaro's body.

"… Well, that's nice to know." In one synchronized movement, both the Riotrooper Commander and Apollo Geist raised their firearms and attacked.

* * *

 _Maizuru Naval Base, April 4th 2051, 1130 Hours_

The morning had passed by far more quickly than Michal had anticipated.

He had only stayed with the Destroyer class until 0900 Hours when he met up with the Vice Admiral for his first one on one lesson with her with the topic being resource management and military logistics with a touch of current politics.

Despite the Japanese economy doing well in recent years, the budget of the Navy had been shrinking year over year due to the new social programs put in place by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Base commanders always had to make do with fewer funds at the time so that meant not restocking certain supplies as often.

Now with the emergence of the Abyssals, there was a movement among Lower House members to try and reverse some of the funding cuts but that met fierce opposition by other politicians, simply due to the fact that they had to represent their constituents who were benefiting from the extra spending on social programs. Not to mention that if they voted in favor of reallocating those funds, their voters would be remembering that on the next election.

So until the political red tape got sorted out, naval bases had to manage their funds and resources very carefully. That also had an impact on fleet deployment as well. The rule of thumb was that for every ship girl that got deployed in a sortie, there had to be enough Steel and Bauxite available to repair them completely under a worst case scenario, defined as a ship girl essentially one hit away from sinking.

There were other rules that Michal had to keep in mind as well when working out which Fleet Girls to sortie with. Depending on the mission rank, there were specific definitions on the amount of fuel and ammo that could be allocated when assembling a fleet of Ship Girls to undertake the mission. In some cases, he wouldn't be able to put certain combinations together simply because of how much fuel those girls would consume. Aosaki made it clear that if he did go over those allocation definitions, he would be dragged to a mandatory hearing with the upper brass.

Obviously, with a heavy emphasis on resource management, that affected how many Fleet Girls could sortie at a time along how frequently they could go out which generated mixed reactions from them. Some understood of the situation while others were not as understanding since they wanted to prove their usefulness to their peers and superiors.

It was quite a bit of learning that morning so it was no surprise that when lunch time came, he simply sat down and laid his head on one of the cafeteria tables to try and digest all that Aosaki had told him. "Uggghhh…"

At the same time Michal was mending his headache, Keisuke entered the cafeteria, returning from his morning walk. With how large the base is, he considered it good exercise for his artificial muscles. He was about to get lunch before he saw Michal with his head on the table. The doctor approached the youth, "Something wrong, Minato-kun?"

His head rolled over a bit to see his unexpected visitor. "Oh... hey, Jin-san. There's nothing wrong... just a lot to learn about running the Fleet." Michal closed his eyes for a moment and groaned. "Argh... I can still see those fuel and ammo ratios dancing in my head..."

Realizing what he meant, Keisuke let out a small laugh, "Ah, you were given that lesson, huh?" Sitting down next to Michal, he continued, "I'd give you some proper advice, but I'm a doctor, not a tactician."

Head still on the table, Michal turned to the doctor and raised an eyebrow, "You watch Star Trek, Jin-san?"

Yet again, Keisuke let out a laugh, "It's a good show. I even own the discs of the original series. Anyway, perhaps writing down the information on a journal while the memories are still fresh?"

"Or type them in your device," Keisuke added, "Whichever way you want. Just make sure you marked the important ones down."

"Yeah, good call." Michal fiddled around with his device for a few moments, keying in what ratios he remembered from this morning before saving the information. "Good, that takes care of that. Now, what's cooking?"

Considering that there are a wide variety of Fleet Girls on base who can cook, perhaps the more appropriate question to ask is 'who's cooking'.

"I think the lunch special is curry today." Keisuke commented, and pointed at the aforementioned food already sitting in the tray, ready to be scooped by the server.

"Curry? Sounds good to me." While Minato got a helping of food from Natori, who was doing server duty for lunch hour, Keisuke noticed that the colouring of the curry looked a bit odd and wasn't the usual yellow colour. It seemed a bit darker than usual and smelled a bit off.

When it was his turn to get his meal, he addressed the shy Cruiser. "Do you know who made that curry?"

"Um… let me check." She briefly went to the back to see who was cooking inside before returning with an answer. "That would be Hiei."

'Oh dear…' By the time Keisuke turned back, he saw Minato with a spoon of curry in his mouth and his face turning every colour of the rainbow before the youth fell forward unconscious, his face buried right in his lunch plate.

"EEEK! Medical emergency! Someone call the doctor!" came the panicked tone of Natori.

"I'm right here," came Keisuke's flat reply before he whipped out his walkie-talkie to speak with his assistant. "Akashi, have a bed ready. We have an incoming patient that needs to be treated for food poisoning."

 _"Roger that, doctor!"_

One of the few good things of being a Kaizorg is that Keisuke won't have much problem eating anything, even if it taste bad. It's extremely difficult to make a cyborg puke. Mostly because of their artificial stomach.

And another was that he can easily carry a person. Carefully scooping up Michal into his arms, he carried the youth to his medical office. Fortunately for Michal, the doctor's office was quite close to the cafeteria.

'Good thing I was briefed about this.' Keisuke commented, 'Hope our supply of digestive pills are still intact. Otherwise, we're going to have to cure him the old fashioned way.'

And so the veteran Rider went off to treat the rookie Rider.

Speaking of which, there's another pair of Riders that we should check up on.

* * *

 _April 3rd 2051, ZeroLiner Dining Car, 2235 Hours EST_

"So the Government of Darkness, huh? That's a name I haven't heard in a long while," said Yuuto while leaning against the wall, watching Deneb continue to administer some light medical treatment to Kotaro and Teddy. A small meal had also been prepared for the duo consisting of some miso soup, a small plate of shiitake mushroom fried rice, some shiitake mushroom tempura and finally, marinated shiitake mushrooms mixed in with other vegetables.

"Do you have any idea how exactly they came back? If it's a timeline issue, we'll need to fix it," replied Kotaro, mildly flexing his left hand. It did tingle a bit but that was it.

"Leave that to me. You have other things to do once you've rested up." With that, Yuuto left the room, leaving only the two Imagin and his great-nephew at the table.

"At the least, Jin Keisuke should be made aware that GOD is active again," suggested Teddy. "We should also explain that they're the ones who created the Abyssals."

"But what are they trying to gain with them? Take over the oceans?" It didn't make sense to Deneb.

That got Kotaro's head into gear. "That's… a very distinct possibility. Keep in mind that the World Ocean covers almost 70% of the Earth's surface. If they have absolute control over the waters, at minimum, they can cause severe weather conditions and threaten entire land masses unless they comply with their demands and surrender their sovereignty."

Deneb nodded, but a sudden thought popped into his mind, "Hold on; what if Jin Keisuke did not know that GOD is involved? What do you want to do?"

"Well... perhaps we should wait for Grunkle Sakurai so we can discuss this." Kotaro suggested. "What has X-Rider been doing nowadays? Last time I asked Grunkle Sakurai, he was a doctor."

"That was the case in the past but now I'm not so sure," murmured Teddy.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Kotaro while finally starting to dig into the late night dinner prepared by Deneb.

The blue Imagin took a moment to bring back the memory. "I recall that when your grandfather teamed up with Kamen Rider Ghost to restore the existences of Riders erased by time, Keisuke's restoration went a bit differently. I wouldn't be surprised if he went down a different path in his second life."

"Ah, I remember that. Both Yuuto and I were there!" Deneb told the two, "My, it's such a long time ago... but I do remember that the Genesis King of Golgom, Shadow Moon, being involved."

The cloaked Imagin continued, "What's confirmed is that all of the Showa Riders that were present returned to their restored timeline, but... sometimes, they looked different."

Kotaro was confused, before he asked more, Yuuto came back. "You can look at these video clips, Kotaro." he then put an old iPad from the 2010s, showing the aforementioned subject. "The Station Master gave it to me, don't ask how he get those shots."

The great-nephew raised an eyebrow, but decided to focus on the device. Multiple screens showing the Showa Seniors in combat against the enemies they fought were shown, but sometimes they changed form; he saw one where Hongo Takeshi, the original Kamen Rider, looked like just how he remembered when he teamed up with Kamen Rider OOO and his grandfather's Imagins to stop Shocker, then his Rider form shifted into a more monstrous look, alongside the minions and monsters. He saw Ichimonji Hayato, Kamen Rider 2, looking like as if he came out of a vintage manga panel with how his Rider form looked.

This affected not just the Showa Riders, but the Heisei Riders as well, including his great-uncle and himself. "Does this has anything to do with why our Rider forms and both Deneb and Teddy looking... different when we arrived?"

"Who knows," replied Yuuto with a light shrug.

"Did the Station Master also tell you about X-Rider's current whereabouts?" asked Teddy.

"Yeah. Keisuke's working at Maizuru Naval Base as their Chief Medical Officer." Yuuto tapped the screen of his device before bringing up an address and a map.

"Then we can pay him a visit after eating dinner." With that, Kotaro resumed his meal while Deneb went to retrieve another pair of chopsticks and a bowl.

"Speaking of dinner, Yuuto should have some of this as well!"

"PASS!"

"But Yuuto!" Deneb cried, "It's good for you, and it has been years. Shouldn't you be able to eat just a little-"

The Imagin had his arm smacked by Yuuto's hand as he retorted, "I still don't like it, Deneb!"

"I'm sorry, Deneb, but Grunkle Sakurai will only eat anything with Shiitake Mushroms as long as Graunty Airi spoon fed him."

Yuuto glared at his great-nephew, 'The nerve of this brat!' he thought to himself. But Deneb's sobbing interrupted him.

"How could you, Yuuto! I worked so hard to prepare delicious meals for you, but it seems only Airi-san can make you eat them..."

Deneb got his head slapped in return, "Shut up, Deneb! And you!" he pointed to Kotaro, calmly eating his meal, "How did you know that? And stop calling me Grunkle, and no calling Airi Graunty, it's so... silly."

"But Grunkle Sakurai!" Kotaro said, ignoring Yuuto's annoyed expression, "It's much easier to pronounce and it's less mouthful. Besides, she's fine with me calling her that..."

Teddy nodded as his master chowed down, "Indeed. And to answer your other question... Urataros took pictures of Great Aunt Airi feeding you. I assume Ryotaro-san was actually willing for him to do that. I believe Urataros has made multiple copies of the photograph."

The look on Yuuto's face was priceless. He grabbed Deneb's head and squeezed it hard. His mind was filled with thoughts of paying back his brother-in-law deafened his Imagin's plea to let go.

* * *

 _Unknown, 1145 Hours_

When the young man's consciousness came back to him, he took a look at his surroundings. All he could see were dim sources of light in this rocky cavern.

'Again…? What's happening to me?' The last thing he could clearly remember was the day that he finally earned his military commission, almost four years after quitting his old job as a lecturer. He had been out celebrating with friends and after a late night of partying, he had been walking back to his home. Then he saw a flash… and then the next thing he knew, he found himself waking up in a totally different place… with traces of destruction all around him.

He hadn't been drinking too heavily that night. He understood that he needed to be fairly sober for his first day on the job so obviously, he couldn't have walked in such a stupor. The strange part was that this happened to him multiple times, leaving him unable to comprehend what was going on.

'Argh… focus, Akai Seiichiro!' He first located some water to try and refresh himself. As he splashed his face, he saw that his tired reflection: that of a typical Japanese man with short black hair and a worn out naval uniform. 'Alright, I can do this… I can-'

The sound of soft footsteps snapped his focus and his head turned to see a small child covered in the shadows. As she came closer, he could make out her features. She had a white one piece dress with a black choker that covered her mouth. Her skin was pale, although not as white as her hair which also had a pair of black decorations. Her eyes were of a red colour and her hands were covered in childish winter mittens. She didn't have any shoes on, wearing only a pair of black anklets.

Akai's heart began to beat faster as he recognized the being. "You're… an Abyssal…?"

"Go back," whispered the child in a quiet but threatening tone.

There was a pause before his stance changed along with his voice, as if something possessed him. **_"An Abyssal, huh? I hope you'll amuse me."_**

"W-what…?" She couldn't comprehend what happened to the man in front of her until he said one word.

 ** _"Henshin."_**

 **SAME!**

 **KUJIRA!**

 **OOKAMIUO!**

Once the transformation finished, the man became clad in a black bodysuit under his three-toned suit of armour. His torso armour was dark blue and had matching gauntlets which were primarily black with deep blue trim. The shoulders were asymmetrical as a whale's tail jutted from the left and a whale's head was on the right. On the chest were symbols resembling aquatic animals arranged in an inverted triangle. Hanging from his belt were red hip plates. The same red armour adorned his legs in boots. His helmet was aqua blue, sporting a pair of yellow eyes and three fins that were pointed forwards. One of the fins was on the tip of the helmet while the other two flanked his faceplate, framing his mouth. In the centre of his belt was a circular buckle which had a jagged edge around it. Finally, a red massive harpoon was held firmly in his right hand.

"You can change…? Just like Onii-chan…"

Just as the possessed Akai brought up his harpoon, he felt himself slammed hard by someone else. When he got to his feet, he could see someone else wearing armour similar to his own.

It was mainly light blue and with a black bodysuit underneath. Large yellow shark jaws were structured in the center of chest armour while the helmet the helmet design was reminiscent of a shark's appearance with gill openings all over the top and side portions. They even formed the 'eyes' as well. The rest of the helmet consisted of a mouth guard that had silver rectangular teeth on the lower portion and a small golden gem positioned near his forehead. The shoulder pads stuck out like a shark's fin with dark blue stripes on them. On the left arm was a large gauntlet which looked like a blue shark with a black head that had its mouth open. Around the new arrival's waist was a silver buckle with a light blue Advent Deck in the center of it with a golden symbol of a shark on it. The gauntlets and boots were the same light blue as the chest armour with silver sockets on his knees and just below his elbows.

"Hoppo, get out of here!"

"Umu!" She gave an affirmative grunt while her rescuer retrieved something from the centre of his buckle and placed it into his left gauntlet.

 **SWORD VENT**

As his opponent summoned a new weapon, the possessed Akai smirked underneath his helmet while readying his harpoon. **_"So you've aligned yourself with the Abyssals? How appropriate… given your name as Kamen Rider Abyss."_**

"What is it that you want?" The male voice underneath the helmet sounded rather young. Frankly, that didn't matter to the bloodthirsty warrior.

 ** _"I only want one thing from you right now: a fun fight between fellow Riders."_**

* * *

 **Stranger: Kept ya waitin' huh? Here it is, the Third Wave of this story of ours.**

 **EZ: And now Yuuto's in the mix. I guess you can blame SHT Grand Prix and the Kamen Rider Yongo specials for making Zeronos prominent again.**

 **Stranger: Well, Den-O has been getting way too many spotlights. It's time Zeronos got his back. Anyway, if you're wondering, yes the Riders from both Showa and Heisei are somehow shifting forms from their original TV/Movie selves, the SIC figures (it's my M.O., deal with it), to Ishinomori Shotaro's art style... it keeps looping without any of them realizing it. Or caring, or maybe they realize it or maybe they aren't we ain't telling you lol**

 **For real though, the plot thickens as Kamen Rider Poseidon returns. I wonder how he got resurrected this time... Also, he's based on the SIC version; google it. Oh, and the Riotrooper Commander is visually based on the Riotrooper Ver. 2 SIC Figure. He came from Faiz's SIC Hero Saga, and the original user was the Rose Orphnoch. Here... who knows?  
**

 **EZ: We understand that some of you are concerned about taking spotlight time away from the main protagonist Riders (X & Aqua) along with the Fleet Girls but we want to show that the Rider verse isn't going to idle around while a possible global threat is building. **

**Stranger: Yeah, background material usually said that the Showa Riders are actually still around, guarding the planet in one part they're responsible. Like Hongo in Europe, for example. Yes, that's the reason why he wear that cool threads in Heisei vs Showa. If Kamen Rider Spirits did it, why not us for this story?**

 **And no, only Kamen Rider X as the Showa representative; don't want to clutter up the spotlight do we?**

 **Anyways, Read Review and Rejoice!**


	4. Fourth Wave

_**Fourth Wave**_

 _Maizuru Naval Base, April 4th 2051, 1205 hours_

Normally, it would take a while for someone to run from one building to another in the base, considering how large the facility has become over the years. There are a few jeeps around, but the girls rarely use them.

Were he a mere mortal, Jin Keisuke would've needed a jeep to carry his patient, Minato Michal, into the hospital building. Fortunately, he's not.

And so, he ran from the cafeteria to his office, carrying the young man like rucksack. Passing through any of the ship girls that happened to be in his way, they were amazed on how fast he was.

'Alright, we're almost there, Minato-kun. Hang in there.'

By chance, he saw that a window was opened on the floor his office was in. "Minato-kun, are you awake?" he asked the youth. His only answer was a groan, and Minato was most likely unconscious. Keisuke had a thought, 'Alright... nobody's around. Let's see if I still got this.'

He crouched down, and in moments, he jumped. He reached for the ledge with his free hand, and grabbed it. He easily pulled himself into the window. 'Yep, still got it.'

As he got closer to his office, the door opened.

The moment he walked inside, he spotted a bed that had a few items placed close by. On the nightstand was a pitcher of water and an empty glass so that Minato would be able to stay hydrated as much as possible while riding out the symptoms of the food poisoning.

"Over here, doctor!" He spotted Akashi bringing a large bucket to the bed as well. Minato would probably be putting that to use when he regained consciousness and needed to vomit. "Do you know what he ate to cause this?"

As Keisuke put the ailing man onto the bed, he turned to his assistant and uttered two words, "Hiei's curry."

The girl winced, remembering the few times she helped her "victims" before.

"Well, if that curry could knock a ship girl out of commission for a while, it's going to be worse for a normal human. I would be surprised if he starts feeling better within the first 24 hours." When comparing the biological systems of a human and a ship girl, there was a stark difference in terms of how the body would go about when trying to recover from sickness. "Wasn't Kongou giving Hiei cooking lessons?"

"Something must've gone wrong, Kongou's one of the best cooks out of the ship girls in this base..."

Keisuke was silent as he searched for the right medicine. She was right; Michal may be a Kamen Rider, but he's still a normal man.

"I got just the thing." He said, snapping his fingers. "As you remember, I was one of their victims."

"That's right." Akashi said, "I think you were the only one who recovered in a few hours, Keisuke-san. How did you do it?"

Keisuke smirked, "Well... perhaps I was lucky. Anyway, I prepared some special pills in case this happened to anyone who isn't one of the ship girls. If this doesn't work..."

He looked at a medicinal bottle locked inside its own case. Keisuke knew the damage it could cause and he would never put anybody-ship girl or normal human alike-through it. But if the pills didn't work...

"There's always the laxative."

The medical ship girl shuddered, "O... okay there..." While Akashi turned back to get a blank report form to fill out regarding this incident, she spotted the note she had written down shortly before Keisuke called her about the food poisoning. "Ah, that reminds me. The Commander left a message for you, Keisuke. A trade was negotiated between Maizuru and Ominato Naval Bases. They're going to be sending us some medical supplies and upgrade parts in exchange for some steel and bauxite. You'll have to inspect the medical goods for any spoilage so you need to be at the Northern Docks by 1300 Hours."

"From Ominato, you say? If it was from Kure, I'd go there myself on my bike."

Fantastic. He had an urgent patient to attend to, then this happened. Sighing, Keisuke grabbed the jar containing his digestive pills. "Alright, there are still some left." he muttered.

The doctor turned to Akashi, "I'll go. Who's coming with me? I'd pick you, but we have a patient."

"She didn't say who's coming with you. If I were a betting person though, I would say Yuudachi, Kiyoshimo and Shimakaze would be the ones to accompany you."

Keisuke nodded, "Then perhaps I should go ask the Vice-Admiral herself."

He held Michal up, instinctively the youth swallowed the pills. After giving him a glass of water, the doctor turned to Akashi, "Take care of him, alright? It's a shame that his first day has him spending it here."

"Will do, doctor. I suggest that you ask the Vice-Admiral to look into who let Hiei on kitchen duty when she hasn't even proven herself qualified for cooking," piped up the medic ship girl before resuming monitoring Michal and filling in her report.

"Roger that."

With that, Jin Keisuke exited his office. This time, he walked out of the building instead of jumping out. As he went outside, he was greeted with a few ship girls. One of them was Hiei.

'I see she wanted to personally apologize to Minato-kun...' Keisuke thought. The girls stopped on their tracks, startled by his presence.

Jin Keisuke is a nice man. It's very difficult to anger him, but the thought of such negligence leading to a comrade getting injured or fallen ill irks him. He tried his best not to glare too hard at the girls as he crossed his arms, but little did he know that they were intimidated by his gaze.

"Hiei... what happened?" he asked in an almost fatherly tone.

"Hie~!" Hiei looked a bit apprehensive when he addressed her. After all, she got a pretty big chewing out from the Commander when Keisuke got sick from eating her curry.

" **HEY!** Don't get on her case, Jin-jii!"

"According to my calculations, the curry should have been edible and not caused food poisoning."

Along with Hiei were two of her sisters, Kongou and Kirishima. All of them wore similar miko-seifuku attire with a radar headband with the main differences being hairstyles (Kongou having the longest hair of the trio) and some of the minor colourings on the uniform. In addition, Kirishima also sported a pair of glasses to further distinguish herself from the other units in her class.

Keisuke never liked scolding the girls, but sometimes he had to do what he must. Arms still crossed over his chest, he told the trio, "As a doctor, the healthiness of everyone in this base is my responsibility. Whether they are ship girls or normal people."

"Kongou," he addressed the long haired sister, "You're a terrific cook, there's no denying that. And I'm sure you taught your sister everything you know about cooking. But this kind of negligence is unacceptable."

Putting his arm in a more normal position, he took a step closer to the trio, not noticing that despite Kongou standing in front of Hiei and Kirishima, her legs was shaking, "It was fortunate that I have a tough stomach when the last time I tried Hiei's cooking. Unlike some of the girls I treated before, Minato-kun is a normal man."

"As you know," he told the girls, "you ship girls are a bit... different than normal people. Basically, your physiology are far better than others. Such is the reason why you all recovered quickly from certain injuries." Keisuke sighed, then looked at Hiei with a sad expression, "Hiei, as much as I want to say that it wasn't your fault, the fact that the curry you made caused Minato-kun's predicament stands."

The doctor put his hand on Hiei's head. She was startled, but his gentle expression calmed her, "I am not angry at you, my dear. I just want to know what happened so I can prevent this from happening to anybody else, including your sisters. Don't be scared, alright?"

"It... it wasn't an exotic curry first of all," Hiei began as she recounted the events from earlier. "It was supposed to be a light seafood curry, strictly following recipe instructions."

"That's right! We're making sure that she gets the basics down before she starts putting **LOVE** into it!" added Kongou. "She even washed her hands thoroughly too!"

Kirishima crossed her arms. "Then maybe there was an ingredient contamination that we didn't pick up?"

Taking his hand off the girl's head, Keisuke stroked his chin, digesting the information they told him. "If that's the case, Kirishima-kun," the doctor said, "Then we should investigate that. Maybe there was a mix-up between the fresh and rotten ingredients that somehow happened."

'That, or she put something else that she thought was alright to add.' the doctor pondered to himself.

Keisuke couldn't believe how many time he sighed today, but he let out another one, "Unfortunately, as much as I want to figure this out, the vice-admiral had just given me an assignment. I'm to go all the way to Ominato to check if the medical supplies were save and uncontaminated, then bring them back here."

The trio put on a dejected look. Keisuke smiled at them, "Hey, don't worry. If you still want to apologize to Minato-kun, he should still be awake now before the pills I gave him put him to sleep."

"Well, perhaps it would be better if he slept it off. Then when he's feeling better, Hiei-chan can apologize." For once, Kongou's tone sounded normal. Of course, that didn't last very long. "In the meantime, it's time to look into the mystery about the contaminated food! Detective Kongou is on the case and **THE GAME IS AFOOT!** "

This fired Hiei up as well. "Then this Hiei will help Onee-sama the Detective with all my spirit!"

As the two girls took off to the scene of the 'crime', Kirishima merely sighed and adjusted her glasses before bowing politely to Keisuke. "If you'll excuse us…"

Keisuke laughed at the enthusiasm of the two, and waved them goodbye as Kirishima said it. "Now to go find the vice-admiral."

* * *

A few minutes later, the doctor found the admin building. He knocked on the vice-admiral's door, "Come in." said Aosaki, which Keisuke did.

"Vice-Admiral. You have a mission for me?"

"Good, you got my message." Aosaki stamped one more requisition form and placed it in her 'approved' pile before putting the stamp away for the moment and passing over a list to Keisuke who quickly went over it. "Here's what we should be getting from Ominato."

'Rifampicin, amphotericin B, hydrocortisone cream…' The first three items listed sprang off the page for him. Rifampicin and amphotericin B were sensitive to light while hydrocortisone cream can separate and become useless in the heat. 'Paracetamol, ibuprofen…?'

That didn't make sense since Damaged Fleet Girls were never in any actual pain when they returned for repairs. They would normally complain about the damage to their equipment and clothing.

"Hmm... I guess the ibuprofen is for Michal when he's ready for field work?"

The woman nodded. "Correct. I've also asked for antacid but unfortunately, they didn't have any on them."

Keisuke raised an eyebrow. "Antacid? If I recall correctly, Ashigara's next turn in the kitchen isn't for another three days."

"True but I wanted to stock up ahead of time. Besides, you never know when the girls might suddenly do a kitchen shift swap with each other."

Keisuke couldn't help but laugh-he's been doing it a lot lately-that even someone like Vice-Admiral Aosaki realize how dangerous eating the cafeteria food could be, considering who cooks them.

"Alright, I'll use my boat to carry these supplies." he said. Since working at Maizuru, he has been using his personal boat he bought 20 years ago to trade medicinal supplies along the JMSDF bases. Sometimes, he went on by motorcycle, but since Ominato was located far north, he won't ride his way to it.

He asked the vice-admiral, "Aosaki-san, who will be my escorts?"

Personally, Keisuke prefers to go alone. But due to how dangerous the Abyssal Fleet is, like it or not, he is to be escorted to each bases he'd visit. He doesn't mind the company, but considering his secret identity, he would like to at least defend himself.

'Some days, I wish I could just show them who I am...'

"I'll be assigning Yuudachi, Kiyoshimo, Tenryuu, and Shimakaze to accompany you. Even though the route you're taking isn't going to stray far from Japanese waters, you never know if you'll run into stray Abyssal scouts." She got back to her requisition paperwork. "That'll be all."

"Very well, have a nice day, vice-admiral."

Exiting her office, Keisuke stopped for a moment, and snapped his fingers, "I knew I've forgotten something. Better ask how Hiei got assigned today, and tell her to check if the ingredients are contaminated..."

He was about to knock, but the doctor could hear a phone ringing. The vice-admiral picked it up, but her voice turned sour as she said the name of her caller, "Tomari... Eiji. Hello, 'honey', how are you?"

'... I believe this could wait.' Keisuke thought, and turned around. But he couldn't help but wonder, 'Tomari Eiji... isn't that the son of Shinnosuke, Kamen Rider Drive? I wonder what's... No, none of my business. I should focus on my job.'

Somewhere deep within his subconscious, Jin Keisuke was both worried and jealous of his junior; a married life is a luxury most of the Showa Riders could not have. He wondered if he should visit Yuuki Joji's family sometime.

* * *

Jin Keisuke then proceeded to the docks. In the olden days, the base would be filled with all sorts of naval warships. Now, with the abundance of the Fleet Girls, only one boat were anchored; his own. It was modeled after the speedboats of the early 21st century. The gray boat had streaks of red in certain spots.

"Alright, then. Now where are those girls..." he muttered to himself, sitting on his vessel.

It didn't take him long to spot the four already gathering at the spot, checking their equipment and their fuel levels. Tenryuu certainly stood out with her predominantly black seifuku and black stockings along with one of her eyes covered with an eye patch. She had short dark hair and one visible yellow eye.

Kiyoshimo on the other hand had longer hair and it seemed multi coloured with the strands looking grey from the outside and the inside looking blue. Her uniform was more colourful with purple as her primary colour covered by a white light jacket. Her eyes were grey as well. She was also the first to notice the approaching doctor. "Good afternoon!"

"Ugh… for a mission like this, I'm probably more than enough," grumbled Shimakaze. "We're just going there and back to get stuff, right? Everyone else is gonna be too slow to keep up."

"You can't have that type of attitude. With that type of overconfidence, you'll be easy prey for those big…" Tenryuu made a dramatic look to mimic one of the Abyssals and got up close to the skimpily clad girl. "… scary monsters!"

"Oi!"

"Fufufu… you scared?"

Shimakaze's only response was to shove Rensoushou-chan in the other woman's face. "Attack! Pew pew pew!"

"Ah… lovely to know that my escorts are all so colourful," said Jin with an exasperated smile on his face.

"Can't have it any other way, poi!" pointed out Yuudachi.

Keisuke gave them a smile, before plugging in the ignition key into his boat. He turned it, and the engine roared to life. "Alright, ladies. I'll be in your care."

At his command, Shimakaze dashed forward into the seas, going ahead of them. Kiyoshimo and Yuudachi looked surprised, but Tenryuu took command, "Alright girls, diamond formation. You two cover the doctor's flanks, I'll protect his rear."

"Come on, Uncle Keisuke, keep up!" cried the destroyer girl with the rabbit ears headband.

"Alright, Shimakaze-chan, take it easy!" he replied.

Keisuke pulled out an old CD case, and inserted its content into the CD player installed in the boat's cockpit, "If you don't mind girls, since this is a long ride, I would like to play some tunes."

Tenryuu smiled, "Judging by how old that thing looks, I wouldn't be surprised if the songs are as old as you are."

The doctor laughed, "You could say that!", and pressed the start button.

( **Play Song: Rebel Yell by Billy Idol** )

The one-eyed cruiser girl raised an eyebrow; who knew that the doctor enjoyed something as old as this? At least it wasn't something that sounded boring.

And thus, as the sailed their way to Ominato, the doctor's songs played along the way.

* * *

 _Unknown, 1230 Hours_

The room was small with plenty of piping and wiring sticking on the wall. There wasn't much lighting either with only two fluorescent lamps placed on the ceiling which illuminated the bed along with the person who occupied it below. On a single wall was a large window, placed next to a door. On another wall, there was a storage cabinet filled with the leftover contents from a first aid kit, namely bandages, wrapping, some personal protective equipment like gloves, tweezers and some disinfectant.

This small chamber served as the infirmary for the Abyssals, which was a rather foreign concept to them. Whenever one of them got damaged in a sortie against Fleet Girls, they would simply regenerate when they returned to base. They didn't need a specific dedicated area of space to recover from combat injuries. But that case didn't apply to their human companion who currently occupied the only bed which had been set in an upright position.

Said human companion was rather young, a Japanese male teenager only fifteen years old. He had school uniform trousers on while his top was bared with ice packs attached to the sides of his chest to help reduce pain and swelling. While he stayed focused on trying to breathe normally, two Abyssals spoke outside the room. One was the small Abyssal he had protected earlier which he addressed as Hoppo. The other was an older woman with long silky black hair and green eyes. She was dressed predominantly in black with dark trousers and a black see-through t-shirt that showed a red undershirt beneath. Her designation was Battleship Ru-kyuu and as she was doing medic work for the moment, her usual Abyssal parts were not with her.

For the moment, she was giving a status report to the smaller girl. "He has some leg bruising, a light concussion and cracked ribs. To be frank, I'm baffled at how he got in this condition. Wasn't his armour supposed to be super tough?"

"Enemy was vicious, skilled. Picked strikes carefully," replied Hoppo.

"Really? Did you tell the others about him?"

An affirmative grunt came from the shorter girl. "Other Hime-classes have been informed of Poseidon. They will adjust sentry patrol routes."

While the Abyssal Girls were conversing, the boy was disturbed by a peculiar ringing sound.

" _Awaken, Kamen Rider Abyss..._ " it called to him, " _Awaken._ "

The teen groaned a bit, tilting his head to the source of the voice; a shattered mirror.

" _I thought you want to be strong,_ " the male voice said, " _Strong enough to help broker a peace between the Abyssal Fleet and humanity in order to reunite your parents to live a happy family life. Strong enough to defend the Abyssal Fleet from the very world itself. Strong enough to overcome all obstacles. Yet this one Kamen Rider defeated you._ "

"S...shut up." Shinichiro murmured, "He was... stronger. I will... get better. I won't let this injury stop-"

The boy fell down from his bed, alerting the Abyssal Girls. Hoppo cried out to him, "Onii-chan! Are you alright?"

The voice continued, and told the youth in an almost mocking tone, " _Boast all you want, Tomari Shinichiro, but as you are right now, you are decades to early to defeat him. But I'm sure with enough training, you will surpass him._ "

The ringing subsided as Shinichiro was carried back to his bed; the figure within the mirror was gone.

It took him another moment to get control of his breathing again. Right now, he felt like he could only take shallow breaths but Ru had instructed him to continue breathing normally despite the pain to clear mucus from the lungs and prevent chest infections.

And speaking of Ru, she crossed her arms with her green eyes looking pretty furious at him. "What were you thinking climbing out of bed?! Do you want to aggravate your injuries any further?"

"I'm… sorry." Shinichiro winced in pain before shooting a reassuring smile at the smaller girl hanging by his bedside. "I'll be fine."

With the way the Northern Ocean Princess glared at him, she wasn't buying it. "Don't move from here, Onii-chan. Let your body repair properly."

"Roger that!" He would have done a mock salute to Hoppo if he had been able to do so.

As for Ru, she noticed someone else approaching the infirmary: a woman with long silky black hair, pale skin and a pair of short, upward curving horns on her forehead. She had a one piece black dress on which allowed her shoulders and some cleavage to be exposed. Her legs were mostly covered with white stockings in a black trim.

Seeing that Hoppo would keep an eye out on him for now, she exited the room to greet her superior known as Battleship Princess, or BB-Hime, who immediately asked for a situation report. "How's everything?"

"All we can do now is wait for his body to heal from the injury naturally. That should take about three to six weeks. My main concern is that we don't have any pain relief medication that he can ingest while allowing the ribs to heal."

"Pain relief?"

"Right now, every time he coughs or breathes normally, he's going to feel pain. If we don't get him pain medication, he'll likely start trying to avoid coughing or start taking shallow breaths to avoid pain, and that'll increase his risk of getting a chest infection."

The black clad Princess took this into account before nodding once. "I'll see to getting something for him."

'Damn... should've brought some first aid before going here.' Shinichiro thought to himself, 'Could've use the Abyssals healing factor right about now.'

Such information was never made public, and he could understand. How would the people react if the supposed enemy can come back right from the dead? But these girls... they never wanted to be the enemy. They never wanted to hurt the humans.

Their leader, BB-Hime, told him-albeit not much-that the Abyssal Fleet were made by someone... Whoever they are, they've kidnapped numerous young women and turned them into what the world see them as today; monsters that needed to be taken down.

'Grandpa... You've told me of the Roidmudes, and this particular one named Heart.' he thought to himself, 'Were things went differently, I may have made friends with one today. But now...'

Looking at Hoppo, the Abyssal Girl tilted her head as he glanced at her. 'Was that a smile?' Shinichiro noticed, but he couldn't tell.

'Heh... guess this isn't too bad. Can't believe I'm beginning to think of them as... cuties.'

That thought process was halted as Ru reentered the room.

"Since it doesn't seem that you're planning to concentrate solely on resting, we might as well get this out of the way. Namely, what do you know about Poseidon? Are there others like him that we have to watch out for?"

"Well..."

* * *

 _Ominato Naval Base, 1500 hour_

It was snowing.

Fortunately, due to how close spring is, it was but a drizzle and it wasn't too cold. But just in case, Jin Keisuke had put on the snow coat he kept in his boat when Tenryuu warned him of the weather condition surrounding Ominato. He felt rather guilty, since he was the one keeping warm. The rest of the girls were vulnerable to the cold, no thanks to how exposed their choice of clothing made them. Sure, they're basically superhuman but they're human nonetheless. They feel hungry and tired like everybody else, only they were more durable than many.

When they finally arrived, he was relieved that the weather didn't get any worse, but once they arrived, he insisted that the girls get warmed up as he check for the medical supplies. Either by getting cups of hot chocolate or eating cup noodle; he'd prefer a healthier meal, but it's the most effective in his experience.

"Alright, Tenryuu. I won't be long." the doctor told the eyepatched cruiser girl, "Keep an eye out on things, and please get inside. I don't want you to catch a cold like last time."

The girl smirked at Keisuke, "Don't you worry about me, doctor. Just see if the meds are fine so we can go home and take a bath in the onsen to warm up. I'd invite you, but..."

"Nagato would kill us, you know." Keisuke stated, "And I'm too old for you, find someone younger."

Tenryuu scoffed, "You say that to every girl in the base. You do realize that some of us are of legal age, don't you, doc?" She then tapped his chest with her pointer finger, "Not to mention that some of them are... okay with older men. What's wrong, scared by how many of us like you that way? Intimidated by the amount of cuties vying for your attention? You're a civilian member, so it's not like we're breaking some fraternity rule if we were to... you know."

Jin Keisuke was about to retort, but then he remembered who he was talking to; he had seen enough to know what that tone mean to him. "You're teasing me, aren't you?"

The eyepatched girl smirked, but couldn't keep herself to turn it into a grin, then letting out a laugh, "Aww, man! I thought I got you this time!"

Rolling his eyes, Keisuke shook his head as he told her, "These old eyes have seen enough to know trickery. Good luck next time. Now please, get inside and warm up."

"Maybe if you let me coddle with you in that snazzy coat of yours I will-"

Doctor Jin Keisuke of the Maizuru Naval Base is a very patient man. But like every human, he has limits. Today, Tenryuu just made him reached the limit of his patience. Thus, he introduced her with the infamous Jin-Style Karate Chop-to-the-noggin' technique.

"Listen here, young lady." he scolded, "I may take the antics of you ship girls with stride, but I am still your superior officer. We have a job to do, and even though there were no Abyssal Fleet in sight, that does not mean you can goof around like this. The Ominato Base may be a part of the JMSDF but we are guests here. Behave yourself... or else."

Tenryuu's forehead was still throbbing with pain, but she knew from that glare of his that he means business.

"Well?"

"Ye-yessir! Understood!"

The girl instinctively saluted the doctor. A part of her berated herself for being so scared, but another made her remember the story of the last time Jin Keisuke lost his temper... it was not pretty.

Howling winds were their only company, before Keisuke turned his frown upside down, and gently patted Tenryuu's head, "Good girl." he told her, before turning around and leaving her, cheeks red as the blade of her sword.

She was about to say something obscene, before she saw Shimakaze-coming out of the cafeteria-being approached by the doctor. She was shivering, and from the looks of it she was obviously cold. Keisuke said something to her, who looked rather reluctant.

Eventually, Keisuke took off his coat, and put it onto Shimakaze. The size difference made it look like she was using a fluffy blanket, but the young girl wasn't shivering as much as before.

"T... Thank you, Ojii-chan." she heard Shimakaze said, before reentering the cafeteria, and the blush she had from the cold just got a bit brighter.

'Man, that old guy doesn't even have to try! Don't tell me he's into...' Tenryuu shook her head of such awful thoughts, 'Nah, no way in hell! Doc's a reliable guy, he would never do something like that. But...'

Keisuke shook some snow off of his normal jacket, and walked into the hopsital wing. Tenryuu couldn't help but wonder about something.

'Huh. I thought he'd be shivering by now. Even I feel like shivering now... must be whatever karate training he talked about. Bah, better get inside before he-'

"Tenryuu! Inside the cafeteria, now!"

"Okay, okay, I'm going!" she cried out, grumbling her way to the building Keisuke pointed out.

Just as the eye-patched girl entered the cafeteria, Kiyoshimo was standing near the entrance, and muttered, "You know… it's pretty crazy,"

"What do you mean?" Tenryuu asked.

"The weather difference! Back at our home base, it's pretty warm but here, it's 10 degrees lower in temperature!" Indeed, Ominato was located close enough to Mutsu, Aomori and usually by April, the temperature would be a bit crisp. It would hover at least above the freezing mark but it was by no means weather in which anyone can go out in short sleeved clothing. Maizuru's temperature on the other hand didn't dip below double digits too often and for the most part, the locals could start bringing out their t-shirts early to enjoy the warm weather.

"That's true. I bet Shimakaze-san can't wait to go home, poi," commented Yuudachi as she joined in the conversation, noting the bunny girl sitting down at a table while clad in the extra jacket.

"Well, let's get something in our bellies like Keisuke said. What can we get though?" asked Tenryuu as she searched for a cafeteria menu.

"Perhaps I can help you with that," said a soft feminine voice that came from another area. The group all turned to spot a woman who came in from another entrance.

She had long brown hair in a ponytail with a radar-mast themed hairband decorated with cherry blossoms. Her attire consisted of a standard red skirt and a light sailor style top with a neck accessory hanging around at the top with a golden flower embedded in the middle. She wore a normal leg sock on her right leg and a thigh-high on her left. As for her arms, they were covered in long white gloves that just stopped beneath the shoulder.

Shimakaze looked up from her spot. "You are…?"

"The Secretary Ship of this base…" Her introduction got cut off though by a certain Destroyer.

"That's the battleship Yamato! And not just any battleship… she's the first in the Yamato-class herself, able to wield 46 centimeter cannons!" exclaimed Kiyoshimo like an excited fangirl.

"Hehhh… that's pretty cool, poi."

"Of course, I'm a bigger fan of her sister, Musashi! Ah… I hope I can meet her one day!"

Tenryuu sighed once upon seeing the smaller Destroyer's antics. "Oi, you really shouldn't say something like that in front of Yamato."

"That's alright." Fortunately, the other Battleship didn't take offense. "But enough about that, I understand you're looking to get some nourishment?"

"Yeah. Nothing too fancy though… cup noodles will be fine," replied the Light Cruiser.

Yamato frowned upon hearing that. "That won't do. Cup noodles are fairly high in fat and sodium for its serving size. Not to mention that the carbohydrates come from refined white flour. I'll arrange for some proper noodle soup bowls to be prepared for you all."

With that, she took out a golden bell and rung it once before small fairies showed up and started running things in the kitchen. Since it'll be a few minutes before everything is ready, the assembled ship girls engaged in small talk while Shimakaze kept huddled in that large coat of JIn's. "So I see that the base here is stockpiling on steel and bauxite, poi."

Yamato nodded once in response to Yuudachi. "That's right. The truth is Admiral Genbu has been working hard to gather enough resources so I can legally be allowed to make a sortie under the current regulations. Although I think those could be put to better use for the other ship girls stationed at the base…"

"Even if that's true, he understands the base desire of all ship girls: to go out to sea with their comrades and protect the homeland from the enemy," said Kiyoshimo. "Battleships are no different from us Destroyers in that regard."

"So rather than saying all that stuff about how those resources can be put to better use, why don't you appreciate your husband's efforts?" With her one eye, Tenryuu could easily spot the wedding band around Yamato's finger.

"I… um…" Her cheeks began to turn red.

"Yay! Hotel Yamato will be joining us on the front lines, poi!" cheered Yuudachi which caused the Secretary Ship to react.

"I'm not a hotel!"

It was at that moment that the fairies finished their work and began bringing out trays, carrying bowls of ramen to the visiting ship girls. There was also an additional bowl set aside for Keisuke as soon as he finished his work. As Shimakaze reached for her chopsticks and stirred her bowl around, she noticed the ingredient make-up of the meal. "Mushrooms and beef, huh?"

"To be precise, matsutake mushrooms and wagyu beef," answered Yamato, causing Yuudachi to freak out a bit.

"Are you kidding me, poi?! Those things are seriously expensive, poi!"

"How pricey are we talking about?" asked Kiyoshimo.

"Matsutake mushrooms can go up to nearly 250,000 Yen per KG, poi! Wagyu beef is even pricier at nearly 350,000 Yen per KG, poi!" Yuudachi couldn't believe that they were being served such a luxurious meal at this base.

"Heehh…" Tenryuu picked up a piece of beef with her chopsticks and gave it a taste before giving her judgment. "… As expected of Hotel Yamato."

"I told you I'm not a hotel!"

* * *

"Hmm... so far, so good."

Keisuke was inside the medical building of the Ominato base. He's currently inspecting them, with Kaga accompanying him throughout the base.

"You know," he wondered, "There are plenty of other staff who I'm sure are more knowledgeable than I am. Why did they want me to inspect it, Kaga-san?"

"It's likely due to the shifting change in climate at the base. There were many personnel who came down with fevers and had to be looked after. The department staff wasn't able to properly allocate enough time to run the inspection themselves before the trade deadline."

The girl was clad in a simple uniform with black stockings, a short blue hakama and a short upper white robe. Her hair was tied in a ponytail. Due to not being on active combat duty, she wasn't in her full combat gear although she still wore a four fingered yugake on her right hand, typical of one who practices the art of archery.

Keisuke nodded, and added, "I see... not to mention Maizuru is a bit closer. Makes sense."

"I won't ask why you couldn't just deliver this by truck," he commented, "But the higher-ups have made their choice. No use wondering. Anyway, everything checks out. Is this all the medicine you want us to deliver?"

Before Kaga answered, she heard a slight rumbling sound. The carrier girl noticed that Keisuke was rubbing his stomach.

"Ah... apologies. I haven't eaten anything, a new member at Maizuru had a... stomach problem. I took care of him, but before I got lunch, I was already ordered to go here."

"Yes, that should be everything. Please feel free to help yourself from the cafeteria before departing." The Aircraft Carrier bowed once in appreciation of their visitor's work.

The doctor smiled, "Oh, it's no problem. Always happy to help."

A few minutes later, Jin Keisuke had put the medical box into the trunk of his boat. One last thing to do is to get the girls. He then found a building with "Cafeteria" written on its doors. As he opened it, he was greeted with a beautiful woman. It was none other than the secretary-and wife-of Ominato's admiral, Yamato.

"Greetings, Jin-san. We've prepared a serving for you so please take a seat and your meal will be brought out to you shortly." The Battleship brought out her golden bell and rung it so that the fairies would bring out the tray.

"Make sure you savour every bit of this luxury meal, poi!"

The Kaizorg blinked oddly at Yuudachi's statement. "... luxury meal? It's just ramen, right?"

Tenryuu let out a small laugh at his expression, "This isn't the same as a ramen you eat on those old ramen wagons. As good as they are, you wouldn't believe how good Hotel Yamato's ramens are!"

Yamato was about to protest, when the fairies flew with the tray. They put it down on a table, and as they pulled the top off, Keisuke was blessed with the most beautiful looking ramen he has ever seen.

"Well, what do you think, doc?" Tenryuu asked, but the response she get was a rumbling stomach, courtesy of Jin Keisuke. The eye-patched girl couldn't help but cackle, "What do you know, you _can_ get hungry! I see you in the base so often, but not once have any of the girls hear you growled like this!"

Keisuke would blush at her teasing, but he will not reduce himself into one of those young men in those old animes who can't handle a cute girl's teasing.

Tenryuu moved closer, forming a left fist, "Was beginning to think that your gut is made out of iron or something." and she swung at the distracted Keisuke.

"I wouldn't do that if I were-"

 ***CLANK***

"... you."

Tenryuu screamed in pain, her left hand glowing red. She try shaking the pain off and blowing it away. The girl glared at the doctor, "Damn, pops! I was just exaggerating, I didn't know that your gut is literally made of iron!"

Keisuke took a moment to compose himself, but he failed; a burst of laughter came out of his mouth, "Ah, I'm so sorry, Tenryuu-kun. I'd take care of your hand, but I think you need more training if a punch to my gut hurt you this badly."

Rolling her eye, Tenryuu replied, "Oh, ha-ha, very funny..."

'Wait, I don't like that look of hers.' Keisuke thought to himself.

"You know, this does make me wonder... what _do_ you look like under this stuffy jacket of yours. You keep saying that you have been training karate since childhood. I wonder how muscular a guy like you would be..."

"I appreciate that you and the Maizuru girls consider me flirt-worthy, but I'm too old for any of you. Also, take this."

Tenryuu has a charm that may entice most men, but Jin Keisuke will have none of that. Thus, he gave her a second karate chop. He left the girl, rubbing the injured spot, and saying, "That's for calling me pops."

The Kaizorg should've accepted the fact that he _is_ old, but Jin Keisuke is still human; very few mind being reminded of their age.

'Besides... there's only one man I would call pops. And he's long gone...'

A series of breaths were heard, bringing Keisuke back to reality. Turning his head to the side, he could see Shimakaze blowing on the ramen trying to cool it down. "Geez… this is too hot! How am I supposed to eat this quickly?"

"You're not supposed to eat it fast, Shimakaze," pointed out Kiyoshimo.

"Says who? My name means island breeze so I won't lose to anyone in speed, whether we're in water or eating together."

"This isn't an eating competition. You should take the time to enjoy it," said Yamato in an attempt to try and bring a little order. "Just wait for it to simmer down a little."

"But I don't want to wait!" complained the small bunny eared Destroyer. "Make this ramen edible, Miss Secretary Ship!"

"Haaaa…"

In mere seconds, images of a certain young man popped into Keisuke's mind. He was blowing a ramen, too hot for his tongue. Complaining to the chef that it is so, but the old lady simply told him that his tongue is just sensitive.

That was one of the last times he had met the young man... Until that day.

' _What happened to him?_ '

' _Who are you talking about?_ '

' _The timeline may change, but our memories don't fade away. How do you think we know all of those things?_ '

' _You... remember him?_ '

' _Now tell me, Zeronos; what the hell happened to Kamen Rider Faiz? Where has Inui Takumi had gone to?!_ '

' _I... I'm sorry, Keisuke-san._ '

' _How could you let him-_ '

"Oji-chan, what's wrong?"

Shimakaze's voice brought the doctor back to reality. He turned around, and was greeted by the girls' worried expression.

"You're sweating, Jin-san." Yamato pointed out, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, doc." Tenryuu nodded, "You looked like you had a nightmare or something. What's wrong?"

Jin Keisuke wanted to answer, but he couldn't. How can he explain that one of his closest friends was gone... especially in the way he still couldn't believe.

He could only answer in one way; avoiding it, "I... I don't want to talk about it. Sorry."

Turning around, he approached the prepared ramen, sat down, and began to eat it. Despite Shimakaze's complaints of her ramen's heat, Keisuke devoured it as if he didn't feel the heat. The girls looked to each other, worried that one of their comrade just had an old wound reopened... or perhaps it's one that never healed.

* * *

 _Unknown, 1605 Hours_

 _"Wo-class to Battleship Princess."_

"Go ahead." In front of the black clad Princess was an advanced computer console, something left behind by the GOD scientists who had been the previous inhabitants of this particular space.

 _"Wo's aircraft scouts have found source of pain medicine for Comrade Tomari. Transmitting data feed."_

The image on the main monitor showed up with a group of four fleet girls and a civilian speedboat travelling in the same direction. "Fleet composition?"

 _"One Light Cruiser and three Destroyers are accompanying the vessel carrying the cargo. Wo is uncertain about their combat strength."_

"That shouldn't be a problem. Our objective is only to obtain the cargo, not sink the ship girls. The Ha-class and the Ni-class Destroyers with you should be sufficient enough for the mission," said the Princess sharply. "Get into position and prepare to engage."

 _"Affirmative. Wo out."_

* * *

( **Play BGM: Ocean Drive by Miami Night 1984** )

"Doc, you sure you want to play that thing loud?"

"I am sure."

Tenryuu's attempt to make the doctor open up had so far failed. What did he remember that made him this moody? Still, it's not like that the song will interfere with the radars the girls use.

"Seeing him like that has got me thinking…" began Kiyoshimo quietly. "Do you think he's like us?"

"What do you mean, poi?" asked Yuudachi as she 'skated' closer to the other Destroyer to hear her better.

"I mean, you hear about how other Fleet Girls sometimes remember their past? Suppressed memories and all that? He seemed to act like that back there." The grey haired girl frowned. "Plus there's the fact that we can't even access old information about the War even though it's part of history and available to the public. It really makes me wonder."

Shimakaze had been about to insert her own perspective on the discussion when her radar went off, detecting enemy aircraft dropping charges on their position. "Incoming!"

( **BGM Stop** )

Four simultaneous huge splashes were made, one on each side and effectively forced the travelling group to stop. While they were trying to get their bearings straight, Kiyoshimo's eyes spotted a group of black deformed shapes heading their way. "I see six enemy Destroyers!"

Tenryuu grinned in anticipation of a fight, happy that she could get her mind off this depressing stuff for now. "Get ready, ladies!"

The eye-patched cruiser turned to Keisuke, "Doc, we'll handle this. You get back to the base as fast as you can, and get us some backup!"

"Right, hang in there!" Keisuke replied, and cranked up the speed of his boat.

In reality, Jin Keisuke wanted to help. Simply transform and fight alongside them. But he can't. "Hongo-senpai," he talked to himself, "I know you made these rules for a reason... but we've been around for so long. Thing change, and this situation... what do I do?"

Then, he remembered an event that happened long ago, from the year 2014. The Badan Empire had returned, and both Showa and Heisei Rider fought each other to rule them out. However, the Showa Riders really were serious on fighting their Heisei juniors. Long story short, after the battle was done, Hongo takeshi told his fellow Showa Riders that Kamen Rider Gaim had reminded them of something important. Something that they've forgotten in their long fight against evil.

" _We have been fighting for the big picture for too long,_ " he told his 14 juniors, " _but in the process, we have forgotten about the little pictures that make it up. I guess along the way, we abandoned our humanity for the greater good... that will not do. Everyone, we have been granted this long life to protect humanity; I would like to include our own, so do not forget that. Remember what Oyaa-san taught us..._ "

Suddenly, the whistling sound of incoming fire snapped Keisuke to reality. He steered right to dodge, and the path he was on exploded, splashes of water fell onto the boat. Keisuke turned around, the girls fighting fiercely against the Abyssals. He had to make a decision.

(Un)Fortunately, the day has given him one.

"As I live and breathe... Jin Keisuke, still alive all this time."

A booming voice distracted the Kaizorg. Whoever he was, he's on his boat. He turned, and for a moment flashes of his father, Jin Keitaro, appeared in his mind... he saw him stabbed by the very same creature he's looking right now.

"Neptune! It can't be... I killed you!"

The GOD monster cackled, "Ha! I'm so glad you remembered, Jin Keisuke! What say we catch up?"

While Yuudachi returned fire on one of the enemy Destroyers, her eyes caught sight of the strange creature that stood opposite of the doctor on his boat. "There's someone with Keisuke, poi!"

"Eh?!" Dammit, they were really tied up right now with these things. Tenryuu quickly swapped in a new magazine for her 7.7 mm Machine Gun before barking orders. "Shimakaze, get to him!"

"I'm trying!" While she was speedy, the Abyssal Destroyers weren't too slouchy in the speed department themselves and did a good job of preventing her from making a clean breakaway to Keisuke.

"I see you allied yourself with these so-called Fleet Girls, Jin Keisuke." Neptune pointed out, "If I remember right, they aren't completely human, aren't they? Just like you..."

Keisue gripped the boat's steering wheel so hard, it was crushed. "Leave them out of this."

The humanoid piranha monster laughed, "Aww, did I touched a nerve? To be honest, I'm somewhat jealous; there are so few women in our organization... which reminds me, how is Ryoko doing?"

Neptune brought up a name Keisuke didn't really want to rememmber; his fiancee, Mizuki Ryoko. She was a spy for GOD, but despite that fact Keisuke still cared for her. Unfortunately, both she and her twin sister Kiriko died by the hands of GOD.

All these years, he still has difficulties getting over it. And now a resurrected monster threatened to dig up old memories.

"Oh, that's right!" the monster exclaimed, "I was told that the wench died, alongside her twin sister. Must be tough, huh? In addition to having your beloved and future sister-in-law being dead, your father died too. Oh, wait, that was my fault wasn't it? Stabbed him with this trident, I did. Why, I still remember that look on his face when we gunned you down like the dog-"

Normally, Jin Keisuke (and many of the Showa Riders) don't usually get angry. They have decades to temper their rage, channeling them into their drive to fight for the freedom that any evil organization threatens to destroy or control.

Today was one of the rare moments where one of them snapped.

Gone was Jin Keisuke, the calm mannered doctor. The Jin Keisuke, who was once an angry young man whose life was turned upside down by GOD, reemerges. And that fury was as powerful as a tempest.

The Kaizorg threw a punch, intending to silence the monster. He grabbed his fin mohawk and slammed a fist into Neptune's face. Repeatedly.

* * *

As Kiyoshimo landed the finishing blow on the enemy Destroyer she had been dealing with, she quickly checked on the doctor… and concluded that she must be seeing things. Right now, her eyes could clearly see Jin Keisuke, one of the calmest individuals she had ever met in her existence, fiercely punching a monster in the face on his boat. His face was full of a fury that she had never seen before.

'Did I take a torpedo strike and hallucinate that…?!'

But just as she rubbed her eyes to clear her vision, she picked up the sight of someone surfacing close to the boat. She was clad in a tight white bodysuit and black leggings. Her skin and hair colour were white and her eyes were green. On top of her head was a hat… that was grinning and which also had gun turrets on the side and tentacles hanging at the bottom. A large collar was around beneath her chin that resembled her headwear's lower jaw. In her hand was a black cane.

"A Wo-class carrier?! Keisuke, get out of there!"

As for the Abyssal girl, she commanded her aircraft to grab the cargo while her gun turrets aimed themselves at the brawling pair who didn't seem to pick up her presence.

"Foul creature of GOD..."

The turrets cocked once, the sound being the only warning for Keisuke and Neptune.

 ** _"…SINK!"_**

Moving on instinct, the Kaizorg shifted his position so that the monster's body would act as a shield from the Abyssal's attack. Upon contact, the sheer force of the blast threw the both of them off the boat and deep into the ocean.

* * *

 **EZ: This came together a bit quicker than I expected. I was honestly expecting to take a break after the Third Wave but a few scenes popped up in my head a few days later and before I knew it, me and Stranger were running with them to the point where we actually wrote a pretty lengthy and polished chapter in just a little over 2 weeks.**

 **Stranger: Yeah, I haven't been this pumped since writing Rising Unto the Stars... maybe I should continue it soon lol But anyway, a scene that's rarely seen in Kamen Rider; Showa Rider being emotional. I know those Old Guards are stoic badasses, but I see them as humans who have lost touch with their humanity. Especially the Kaizou Ningen ones. So have an emotional Jin Keisuke!**

 **EZ: Actually, I do recall Minami Kotaro being pretty damn passionate/hot-blooded back in Super Hero Taisen 3: Grand Prix. And speaking of hot-blooded, we reveal the one who wields the Abyss Advent Deck: Tomari Shinichiro, the 15 year old son of Tomari Eiji from** ** _Kamen Rider Drive_** **:** ** _Surprise Future_** **and Vice Admiral Aosaki Sumire. He's a rash youth who takes some of his grandfather's old recklessness. While trying to fix his broken family, he learns the truth about the Abyssals. Now he fights, hoping to prevent the Roidmude tragedy from happening to the Abyssals.**

 **Stranger: Okay, maybe just the first 10. Minami Kotaro is a class of his own. Yeah, kinda obvious, but there is a reason for that... and a reason why the GOD Kaijin Neptune returned. I'd say he's based on his SIC form, but monsters of the week rarely get some love. So use your imagination or something. Some of you might wonder** ** _why_** **the story has Keisuke being targeted by some of the Ship Girls as an eligible bachelor... well, I think it's funny. No, this won't be a harem story or anything; I have Rising for that lol**

 **EZ: But since the Kancolle franchise had the Admiral as the Launcher of a Thousand Ships and spawn a truckload of doujins, having Keisuke as the target of a handful of Ship Girls isn't as crazy in comparison.**

 **Stranger: Pretty much, yeah. So, next time there will be a Great Transformation from Jin Keisuke, and a lot of ass kicking will ensue.**

 **Until next time, Read, Review, and Rejoice!**


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